After I graduated from high school I decided that I was going to
take a year off before I went to college. Before you get inspired by my bold,
prime-time television subplot, the real reason I took a year off was for
medical reasons. I tell this story to my students, especially the ones who get
worried about their grades. My own vulnerability here and my story of finishing
high school and college despite my setbacks sometimes helps students.
In June of 1996, between my
Junior and Senior years in high school, I had a grand mal seizure. That
seizure, in many ways, is the defining moment of my life. Apart from getting
married, that seizure is the most important event in my life. That summer I had
been having severe migraines and vision problems. I could deal with the
migraines; I took a lot of naps. But the vision problems made summer baseball
difficult. One Thursday night I went 0-3 at the plate; I struck out all three
times. In the outfield, I couldn’t tell how far in front of me fly balls were,
so I played deep and just let everything fall in front of me. I later learned
that I was suffering from a type of encephalitis. My brain was
inflamed…severely inflamed…and the swelling was literally putting pressure on
my optic nerve and, most likely, warping my optic lenses, causing depth perception
issues. The following day, when I was out with some friends, I suddenly got
sick and passed out. I did not get better until two days later.
(This is a bit of a long story, so I am breaking in into shorter pieces. I am working n three other blogs so the rest of this story will come in a few days. Thanks for your patience!)
(Just taking a nap.)
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