Entry 6: Not your average kid

I've never been called what you called the regular kid in school. You can simply tell from both my first and last name that I'm different, but I'm fine with that a lot of people don't understand me and some never will. I’ve always been the odd one out of school because of my sickness. Everything I've been through I look at as a positive, not a negative because the doctors found what I had and was able to correct it, even if that means jeopardizing my attendance in school. Even when I went to school, I always gave it my all even when I wasn't there, even with criticism from teachers of me not being there and from kids I blocked it all out my mind and did it mine. As I look at my years after the normal school days, I noticed that a lot of people that were "destined to succeed" didn't. I look back in the yearbook in high school and see that all my hard work wasn't put at notice and those that barley worked hard, were noticed. Rather they were throwing a basketball around or a football around or just popular, they were in the yearbook as the ones to succeed just because of their popularity status. But it's funny to look where some of them are now in my class. Some have dropped out or are in jail for a crime committed. No one had hope in my future in school but from where I stand I'm going in my fourth year of college and I'm still going strong. I got accepted into a university with a scholarship, that has me set for 4 more years. So did I prove them wrong? Yes I did but I didn't do it to benefit them, I did it to benefit me. Yes, I was the odd kid out of school, I was fighting for my life through my sickness and I'm glad a lot of people judged me for that because it made me stronger. Even the last year of my senior year I had my kidney transplant, I missed my half year, I didn't have a senior prom day, I didn't get to joke with the rest of my class on senior prank day, where was I? In the hospital trying to work hard on finishing high school. Even with one good hand. I thought I was never going to walk again, nor walk with my class at graduation, but somewhere inside I did even though inside my legs were still under me and I felt like a three-year-old trying to walk again. I’m glad people doubt me because if they didn't maybe I wouldn't be where I am, I like being the average kid people talk about, that's what makes me Filipe.