(06) Stephen Merrill: Life Unexpected

Imagine you are in college and its finals week. To relieve the stress, your friends decided to go to the local trampoline park.  Little do you know that when you walk in the door to the facility, you will have an accident that will change your life forever. That is what happened to  Stephen Merrill.  The thing that I loved most about interview Stephen is his honesty. He talked about how sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we expect but just to take things one day at a time.

On Stephens blog, he shares how his perspective changed after that moment.

“I went from worrying about if my hometeachees were cute or not and thinking about how many points Jimmer would score in his next game to hoping the muscles in my chest would strengthen enough to get the fluid that was building up in my lungs out on its own so I wouldn’t need a tube stuck down my nose to suction it out. Most painful thing I’ve ever experienced by the way. Instead of entering the MTC, I spent the next two years in either a hospital, doctors’ office, or physical therapy clinic. Just as soon as I was entering the part of my life full of freedom and growth, it was gone, replaced by a frustrating grind of trying to get my body to do the simplest things, things that I had always taken for granted. Not only was I not going on a mission, but I now had doubts and fears about all the M’s on the list. I had always been a great student and quick learner, but how was I going to continue in school without being able to write or use a computer? And what about finding a job? Or getting married?”

Stephen just graduated this Spring with his Masters in Statistics. He is pictured below with his family.

To learn more about Stephen check out this Article by BYU and the SLC Tribune. Don’t forget to push play below and listen to more of his story.

 

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