Reflective Essay About My Wa A Personal Narrative

Words: 495
Pages: 2

In early 2013, I participated in a program called Nape`a, where I learned Native Hawaiian sailing traditions. We spent time on a wa’a, or canoe, named the Kini Kini and learned to trust the wind to safely guide us to our destinations. As a young aspiring neurologist, my path is similar to that of the Kini Kini. My entire life, my wa’a has been propelled by the wind that is my parents while I have acted as the paddle and guided my every turn. On my path to becoming a neurologist, I have faced many obstacles that have been cracks in my paddle and have tried to sway me from my path to success, but instead my wind blew from behind and pushed me to excel faster.
The first crack in my paddle presented itself in 2014 when I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. This decelerated my wa’a due to the lack of strength my paddle was able to endure. This is when my wind came from behind and continued to allow my wa’a to advance to my goals. As the wind, my parents filled the crack with their hope and prayers and I placed my paddle back in the water. My strength at that point was tested, but not broken. I paddled harder than before to catch up from the lost time.
This time the crack was louder, and more damaging than before. This one came in 2016 when my father passed away. All this time, my wind was my parents’ support, but now it was half as
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It was then that I realized, I am not the paddle, I am the wave. As the wave, I picked up my wa’a and launched it forward. This time, faster and stronger than ever before. My wave is composed of perseverance and determination that I was not even aware existed. Paddling through that final crack showed me that nothing can stop me because I am more powerful than any obstacle I encounter. Through every crack, I continued to produce exemplar work in all of my AP and honors classes, wrestled a full season, and worked twenty hours a week at a