The brain is one of the most valued organs; it controls your thoughts, feelings, actions, words and more. What might the consequences be if you were to damage the godly orb?  The answer: Anything is up for grabs.

The brain is very sensitive. If the brain were a human, it would be that annoying kid in elementary school who would cry and tell the teacher if you even poked him.  In a perfect world we would all wear helmets to avoid injuring our brains, unfortunately hats are not permitted in school so that trend died before it was even born.  The fact is we cannot prevent ourselves from getting hurt as much as we would like to.  Reality is a big fat downer.

My reality is that I got a concussion. Most concussions last up to five weeks.  My concussion is coming up on one year.

It all began when I was at volleyball tournament in Wisconsin last year on Feb. 28. My team was playing a team of 12 Paul Bunyan-looking teenage girls.  I honestly had no clue how there could be that many giant 16 year olds living in one state. The moment we realized that the tallest person on our team was the same height as the shortest person on theirs was when we became a little weak in the knees.  Nevertheless we went out on the court.

The first point that the team scored was hit by one of the Pauls and it was one of those hits that afterwards you make eye contact with your teammates and mouth the words “Oh crap”. The adrenaline got higher and we would not let a single ball touch the floor. We were playing the tiebreaker when the ball was hit at one of my teammates.  She managed to pass the ball, but it was passed diagonally.

Immediately I ran full speed after the ball.  While I was watching the ball there was the metal stand the referee stands on right where the ball was about to land.  I dove right into a metal pole.  When I hit it I got a rush of excruciating pain to my head.  In my memory it seemed slow motion in the moment, but I got right back up and started playing again.  The game never stopped.

After the tournament was over everything plummeted. My brain was not the same, making me a different person. I felt my old outgoing self slipping away.   I no longer enjoyed commenting in my classes or going out with my friends.  I missed almost two months of school. I had a very hard time absorbing information and carrying conversations. I was diagnosed with PCS (post-concussion syndrome) which is a minor traumatic brain injury that can lead to migraines, tension headaches and psychological problems post concussion.

The excessive amount of doctors appointments and the constant questions from my classmates didn’t make it any easier. The idea of coming to school psychologically destroyed me.  I thought people would pester me and I would have to relive the painful process.  I didn’t want anyone to know I was struggling.  When I did go to school I joked around a lot to cover up my anxiety and depression-FYI I lied when I said I took a semester off to study in Australia.  I still struggle periodically with severe headaches and blurry vision. No one will ever realize how impactful one event can be unless you go through a year of what I went through. Although the recovery time is not ideal I feel as if I am nearly complete.  Life lesson to everyone: take care of your brain because you only have one.