Parker was asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

 (Written by Parker Lentini)  

This essay was quite difficult to write, not because I couldn’t think of anything but because of the topic itself. This is a very sensitive topic for me because sometimes I don’t feel like I’m going to make it to my adult life. I mean sometimes I am in so much pain that I don’t know if my body can handle it anymore and no I’m not saying I’m going to take my own life. It’s just sometimes I feel like one day I’m going to wake up and not even be able to move or do anything.  So, I did my best to answer this question.  I hope you like it.

 “What do you want to do when you grow up?” …a question kids are often asked in life, but who knows what we actually want to do. I mean we still have years before deciding. For instance, I could be a firefighter, a baseball player, an actor, or even the president. But I guess if I had to choose now, I would probably say, “I want to be a Child Life Specialist.”

The main reason I would like to be a child life specialist is because they are the one person in the hospital that everybody likes. I know the first time I was admitted into the hospital I was sad and scared. Then this lady named Amy came into my room with a big smile and said, “Hi I’m Amy from child life is there any thing I can do for you.” Then my mom said to her, “He’s not doing good, sorry.” But she wanted to do anything to make me feel better; so she asked if she could come in. After we met, she asked if I wanted to play any games and from that moment on I knew I wanted to be a child life specialist. Like I said, every body likes them because they do whatever they can to make your hospital stay fun.

The other reason I would like to be a child life specialist is because of the kids. These poor kids have to spend weeks at a time in the hospital getting infusions, x-rays, MRI’s, surgeries, difficult treatments, and sometimes even missing holidays. And having had all this happen to me, I know how much a friend can help. I just love being around kids, and if I was a child life specialist I could be with them everyday. Since I have experienced what they are going through, I can relate to them and help them cope. So I would do it for the kids.

That is why I would like to be a child life specialist:  one, to be the “one liked person” in the hospital and two, to help the kids who need a friend and cheering up. You don’t have to be a firefighter or the president to help people. And you don’t have to be an actor or a baseball player to be cool. A child life specialist is all that and more. So thank you to all the child life specialists for helping others and helping me find out what I want to do when I grow up.