2021 Rosen & Ohr Scholarship Winner
We would like to extend our congratulations to Natalie Torres, the winner of the 2021 Rosen & Ohr Scholarship! To learn more about the Rosen & Ohr, P.A. Scholarship, click here.
It was a normal cold and snowy Saturday night in Denver when my friend Luisa invited me to dinner. I slightly hesitated at the thought of having to leave my warm house as I laid comfortably on my living room couch, browsing through the television trying to find a movie to keep me entertained. After a few minutes, I thought it would be a great idea to catch up with my friend who I had not seen for months since I had started my first year of college. I quickly got ready and before I could leave, I felt my dad’s presence and heard his loud voice say, “Have fun Natalie, but make sure you wear your seat belt.” Slightly annoyed at my dad’s nagging, I said goodbye to my parents and siblings before getting into my friend’s car. While Luisa tried to figure out how to get to the restaurant, I placed my cell phone on my lap before everything became a blur.
Seven years later, this is the part of the story that still triggers my emotions and causes my chest to bundle up and heart to speed up. I feel my hands and body slightly tremble as I begin to think about the night of November 30, 2013 that changed my life forever.
For some strange reason, there is no sound to any of my recollections of the night. After placing my cell phone on my lap, I vaguely recall my friend turning the steering wheel as she hunched forward at a busy intersection. I remember turning my head to the right before I was blinded by the brightest white lights. When I was blinded by these lights, my interior voice told me that everything was going to be okay before I got a brief glance at a white truck approaching me. Although, the truck seemed to be coming closer, it felt as if it was barely moving. When I say that my interior voice told me everything was going to be fine, I am not saying this to make my story sound dramatic. I am not sure if it was my voice, God’s voice, or the universe speaking to me, but somehow it was that voice that allowed me to stay calm. Then everything else that plays in my brain is a silent movie, and I only remember glass shattering and my head banging upward against the car.
Between the accident to the point when I woke up with strangers standing over me, I had been unconscious. I felt terrified and started crying and yelling when I felt someone touching my body. The worst part was being unable to move as I was tied down to a stretcher and felt a neck brace holding my head down no matter how hard I tried to look up. I remember panicking when I heard a woman’s voice say, “Sweetie, calm down. You are okay. You were just in an accident and……” then I drowsed off.
For the next four days, I remained in the hospital with a sore body and heavy throbbing all around my head. The lingering taste of blood remained in my mouth, and my hair felt and probably looked like a bird’s nest. Even going to the bathroom on my own was impossible, and my mother became my caretaker for the next few weeks. The numerous doctor/nurse visits, medical exams, MRI and CT scans are a blur to me as I was asleep for most of the time. The only thing I can remember is one of the doctors telling my parents I had suffered a brain hemorrhage, which at the time I didn’t understand the implications that would come with this.
When I was able to go home, I never expected this to be the beginning of a grueling healing journey. At the time, I was an 18-year-old college freshman, and I had to manage to get through my first-semester of college while studying for my final exams in bed with a head injury, swollen jaw, and with stitches around my lip and forehead. How I managed to finish my first semester of college with A’s and B’s is something that still amazes me.
The last seven years of my life have been impacted by this accident. While my peers were having the best time of their lives enjoying the exciting ‘college experience,’ I was going to doctor visits, therapies, MRI and CT scans every other day for months to ensure my brain was healing. During this time, I also vividly remember how the hospital bills piled up on my living room coffee table. Bills as large as $30,000, $55,000 and $10,000 with my name on them started to invade my life and tranquility.
I wish the medical bills were the worst part, but the accident took a toll on my health. Since then, I suffer from debilitating migraines and anxiety. My brain injury caused me to become prone to migraines which affected and still affects my schoolwork, work, social and everyday life. My migraines are easily triggered by stress, bright lights, strong scents and even loud noises. In college, with the never-ending course assignments, projects, work and extracurricular activities, managing all of this while enduring migraines and anxiety was extremely difficult.
Migraines have caused me to miss out on important life experiences, and they sometimes become so severe to the point where I become nauseous and throw up, and the excruciating pain has taken me to urgent care. I also developed anxiety, and I had many nightmares involving me in car accidents. Due to the trauma I suffered, I went to counselors throughout college to help me cope with the extreme sadness and lack of motivation that plagued my daily life.
Today at 26 years old, I continue to have follow-up MRI’s and neurologist appointments. My neurologist has put me on various migraine prevention medications and vitamins to make my life easier. It’s been a slow process getting over my trauma. It’s taken me almost seven years to get behind the wheel and learn how to drive. Every time I had attempted to drive, I felt completely terrified and anxious. Last summer after many failed attempts, I finally decided to enroll in a driving school and managed to (slightly) get over my fear or driving. I passed my exam and got my driver’s license! I no longer have to rely on my parent’s or friends to drive me to my doctor appointments, and it feels great to drive myself to run errands.
Going through a traumatic car accident has taught me that life can change in any second. I learned to cherish life and health. Although, I will never be the same person I was, I try to remain positive and hopeful for the future. I am excited and motivated to pursue a Master’s in Digital Social Media from the University of Southern California. I am a first-generation college graduate, and also the first in my family to pursue a master’s degree. I am a hard-working and determined woman who is eager to continue learning and gain innovative and useful skills for our ever-changing, interconnected world. I am aware about the various challenges I will endure in graduate school, cost being the biggest one. This is why I am determined to apply to scholarships, and plan on working throughout my program. I am also realistic about having to rely on loans. This is why I am hopeful that I will receive the Rosen & OHR Scholarship which will greatly help me cover some of the costs. Sharing this experience in this essay has been quite difficult, but also in some ways healing. I firmly believe life will get better.
