IE Express yourself presentation about a rough time

This is my presentation which talks about a very tough time in my life and how it imapcted me and my future.

1. CARLEY BIBILONI
FERRAGUT

2. Introduction
•I am a 17 year old Mallorcanstudent and competitive padel player.
•I love travelling, fashion, creative projects and sports.
•I consider myself as a funny, social, creative, open-minded, honest and worker
person.
•The aimof this presentation is to providean insightintoa time that I faceda
challengeand whatI gained from that experience, as well as how it impactedand
impactsmy future. I willbe presentingthe roughtime I hadwhen my mother was
diagnosedwith Cancer and how it impactedme.

3. A
DIFFICULT
SITUATION
-When I was14, my momwasdiagnosedwith breast
cancer. Overnight, everything feltuncertainand scary.
My family’senergyshiftedcompletely. Our home,
whichwasalwaysfull of laughter, becamequietand
uncertainand I didn’tknow how to cope with it.
-I triedto be strongand helpful, butthe anxietyand
pressurebuiltup. I beganrestrictingfood and, by 15, I
wasstrugglingwith anorexia and depression. My
grades and friendshipssuffered.
-I feltguiltyfor needinghelp while my momwasill
and believedI hadto be perfectand in control all the
time.
-This periodleftme feeling smalland invisible and so I
couldn’tseemy worthor talents.

4. HOW DID THIS CHALLENGINGSITUATION
AFFECT ME?
•While living this situation, I feltverylostand worriedabout my mum’s healthand my
future and so it wasveryhardto seea pathforward.
•I startedmissing almosteverydayof school and startedpushingawaymy friendsand
evenfamily
•My grades started to go down, whichwasveryfrustratingbecauseI hadalwaysbeen
dedicatedand achievedexcellentresults.
•I also lost my motivation for padel which was awful as I dint even have the strength
to get up from bed.
•I didn’t wantto open up to anyoneat first, buteventuallymy parentsnoticedthat I
wasn’tmyself. Theyreachedout for professional help, whichwasthe first step
towardsrecoveryand rebuildingmy confidence

5. What helped me overcome the difficult situation?
•The turningpointcamethe dayI sawmy mum more worriedabout me thanabout her
ownhealth.
•In that moment, I realizedhow muchmy painwasaffectingthe peopleI loved most,
eventhe personwho wasfightingher own awful battlewith cancer.
•Seeingher crying and begging me to eat, insteadof worrying about herself, made
somethingclick insideme.
•From that moment, I decided that I would listen to the professionals and actually open
up to let them help me, not just for me, but for the ones I love the most.

6. What did I do to overcome the situation?
•Since the beginning my parents asked for help. However, every time I went to the
psychologist or psychiatrist, I cried and didn’t talk to them because I didn’t want to be
there.
•However, after clicking, I tried my best to communicate myself, even though it was
hard for me to talk about how I felt.
•I also started taking a pill that helped to cope with my depression because the
psychiatrist told me and I was really going to put of my part to get through this.
•I started talking to the professionals and made an effort on eating and even though I
had relapses, my family was very patient with me and right now I would say that I am
fully recovered even though there are some thoughts that are probably never going to
leave.

7. Moving forward again
•My parents and I have travelled to many places together. It’s like a tradition to travel in
some vacations. However, when my mum was ill, we couldn’t travel as she had
chemotherapy almost every week.
•Once she had surgery and recovered, we could have travelled but my recovery was
slightly longer and wasn’t feeling myself to travel.
•Once I was feeling better, my dad decided to surprise us with a trip to Dubai. I felt both:
nervous of thinking of having a relapse but excited to be a normal “family” once again.
•Everything turned out just fine and this reminded me that healing takes time but it is only
possible if you want to heal.

8. Future
•Thanks to this experience, I think I developedstrongercommunication
skillsand learnedthe importanceof patience(bothwith othersand with
myself). Thesequalitieswerekey in helpingme recoverand rebuildmy
confidence.
•Everything happened duringYear10 and 11, rightin the middleof my
IGCSEs, whichmadeit extremelyhardto stayfocused.
•Still, I managedto complete themsuccessfullywithmerit, whichmademe
realizehow resilientI can be evenwhen things aren’t perfect.Although, I
know that if my mind was better, I would have done better exams.
•I alsolearnedthat progressisn’talwaysabout beingthe best, it’s about
doingyour best, evenwhen lifefeelstoo overwhelming.

9. Conclusion
•Dueto thementalityand skillsI haveacquiredthroughthisrough period, I believeI
wouldbe a greatfitforIE Universityand theirbusinessadministrationprogram(if
it’sglobal ornot). Besides, I havealreadyexperiencein internationalenvironments
and skillsthatwillhelpme to be succesful.
•Thankyouverymuchfortakingyourtime in mypresentation. I hope to seeyounext
year!