Many people say that one experience has influenced them to be a better person, or changed their life and made them a better person. My experience isn’t just one moment, but one that I have had to put up with and will have to put up with for the rest of my life. I have fatal anaphylactic food allergies to the foods that people consider the worst foods to not be able to eat. I am allergic to all dairy and tree nuts. That includes ice cream, chocolate, a glass of milk and many other things. Now this essay wasn’t meant for you to feel sorrow for me but to show how this has changed and influenced my life in positive ways.

Having allergies made me a better person and made me more independent. I had to be responsible and carry an Epi-pen around with me at all times. At age 6 I had to remember this Epi-pen pack everywhere I went, every single day. This made everything else come easier because I could do this big task by myself at such a young age. Although now that I’m older and more mature it was hard to adapt too this when I was younger.

Also my allergies made me different from my friends and peers. I had to overcome the fact that I could not eat a cheese pizza when they can and have dry cereal when there is no soymilk at a sleepover. The way I look at it is that I can’t change it and it’s just the way life is. Although there is a very small chance of me overcoming my allergies it is very unlikely. When I was younger it was hard to understand why I had to have food allergies, but in the long run it made me a stronger person.

One way that made the whole situation easier is my best friend growing up had the same situation as me. Even though he was only allergic to peanuts we overcame and learned together. I remember as a little kid my friend and I would both have our fanny packs and we would wear them together. If we didn’t wear them together it would have been weird, but we did it together and tried to make the best of it. We helped each other through this small speed bump in life.

I actually have overcome some of my allergies. From the beginning I was allergic to dairy, all nuts, sea fish, and shellfish, but now it is only dairy and tree nuts. I am not expecting to grow out of dairy at all unless they find a cure. One time my allergist said that it is more likely for me to be Jewish and become the pope then grow out my dairy allergy. Unless some genius scientist finds a cure. That leads to my last thing that my allergies have done for me. I would like to go to school and study organic chemistry so I could possibly help the cure or just even make it easier for people who do have allergies.

Even though the allergies held me back from having a Hershey’s bar it has done many more positive things that I can take away. It made me a stronger happier and more independent person.

My life lesson: what ever comes your way try and make as many positive things out of it as you can.