As a Loved One Fades by Jordan

As a Loved One Fades by Jordan - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I can remember, I’ve continuously had a heart for helping others. Part of me has always believed that my purpose on Earth is to be sure that those surrounding me never struggle with feeling alone. It hurts me to see people struggle, while their loved ones are clueless to what’s going on in their mind.
I am currently enrolled at Louisiana Tech University, where I am a member of Sigma Kappa Sorority. Through Sigma Kappa, I have become very involved with the Alzheimer’s research foundation. I wasn’t aware before of how deeply Alzheimer’s can impact a family. Coincidentally, shortly after I joined Sigma Kappa, my grandmother was diagnosed with a minimal form of Alzheimer’s/dementia. This past Christmas my grandmother was overwhelmed and very confused, and she had to ask me to remind her which grandchild I was. We could all tell it tore her to bits and pieces to not remember what she was struggling to figure out. It was breaking her heart as much as it was breaking ours.
Sigma Kappa is actively involved with advocating for Alzheimer’s research around the community. A couple of weeks ago, while participating in The Walk to End Alzheimer’s, I was awe-struck by the amount of people that were in attendance due to having a family member impacted by this sickness. A woman and I began talking about the hardships of taking care of someone who loses a piece of themselves daily. It’s not easy to have someone who’s so close to your heart ask you what your name is. As this woman was telling me her story, I began to wonder why more people aren’t aware of the impacts of Alzheimer’s.
More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. It is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. Alzheimer’s effects don’t start to show until around the age of 65. It’s a fact of life that no one knows what they have until it’s not there anymore. You don’t realize how valuable someone is until parts of them start to fade. We all get so caught up in the chaos of our own lives, that we forget to take advantage of the loved ones we are given.
Through Sigma Kappa, I have become motivated to make sure those I come across know how important Alzheimer’s research is. I now put in effort to attend events around me that contribute to those affected. It’s so important to have something in your life that you’re passionate about. My passion is helping others in any way that I can. For this reason, I’ve chosen to be a psychology major, and I hope to one day understand the workings of the mind. If making others aware of this terrible disease is one of the smallest things I can do, I’d say I’ve been pretty successful.