Life History Narrative Of Neleah Lavoie 

Born in Bracknell, England on October 26, 2003, in the London hospital, I Neleah Catherine Lavoie was given life. With a pro hockey player has a father, and a teacher as a mother, I was their first of four children. A 7 pound 2 oz baby with a huge head of hair, which my parents like to continuously remind me made me a very ugly child, still, I was their prized possession. My mom and I travelled to PEI when I was 6 months old, moving into the house they built the past summer. My dad, on the other hand, stayed in England to finish the rest of his last hockey season before we were all going to start a life and family for ourselves in Rustico PEI.

I grew up in a brown house on the corner of Buntain Road surrounded by trees and in walking distance from the beach. Growing up, there was never a dull moment in that house as it was filled with steady activity from my younger brother, 2 younger sisters and I. Constantly, we renovated that house, adding bedrooms, living space, garage space and then lastly an inground pool. No matter the weather you would see us outside if it was in the pool or on the snowmobiles. My parents always blessed us with the adventurous spirit that got us into A LOT of trouble as children. We saw our small little road grow and develop into an independent small community called Anglo Rustico. The local school was about 7 minutes away in North Rustico called Gulf Shore School. I attended that school for 10 years starting in kindergarten and taking the French program from grade 4 to 9 before I started attending Bluefield High School this fall. With a community behind me, I was able to develop into a smart determined child.

My parents raised me with a very sheltered childhood. I was almost oblivious to the world around me until I went to school and made friends that I was able to experience the hard aspects of life. About 3 years ago around Easter time my grandmother was diagnosed with Brain Melanoma and was given 30 days to live. She doctors informed her that she had 9 tumours in her brain. One of which was pushing up against the speech centre causing small seizures. She is still living today, but that was and is still the hardest thing I have experienced in my life. I witnessed her be almost gone so many times that to me she is a miracle. All sadness has to come to an end eventually and ironically my life is filled with happiness. My family life is very positive and provides me with many experiences and amazing memories. Some of my favourite family memories are the trips we did together. We travelled to Florida, Mexico, Cuba and all the Eastern provinces of Canada making lifelong memories at all destinations. A family has always and hopefully will always play a very important role in my life. I treasure all the all things each and every relative do for me. Young or old, each one has helped me through hard times and make the good times better. For as long as I can remember, I have been a very active child. Involved in many sports through my life soccer is the only one that stuck. I have played soccer ever since I can remember and will be attending my second national championships in 2 weeks. I also enjoy recreational snowboarding, track and field and snowmobiling. As an active child, I have hurt many parts of my body, including breaking my ankle, fracturing my wrist, tearing a muscle in my hip and getting many concussions. I am also involved in my local 4-H club. 4-h has taught me so much through the experiences it has provided me with. Through 4-H, I created 3 national level science fair projects that took me to Ottawa, Montreal and Regina. 4-H science projects have introduced me to many powerful people and even took me to meet the Prime Minister last October.

These experiences helped me decided that I wanted to be a surgeon and got my name into the medical world. Through that, I was able to volunteer at QEH this year getting small experience in the hospital. In the past, I participated in Destination Imagination. An organization that is built around creativity and innovation. My first year, my partner and I won the Da Vinci award, taking us all the way to Tennessee for the global championships in the improv challenge. The skills that all these opportunities have taught me are what helped me get my first job last year at Fisherman's Wharf and my job this year at On The Dock Eatery.

As can be seen, I have had a very busy life to date and hope to always have the same experience. After High School, I plan on attending an accelerated medical school to become a neuro or cardiothoracic surgeon. Due to the competitive nature sports invested in me, the determination my family modelled for me, and the will to be great 4-H has shown me I truly believe this is the career for me. This past summer, my experiences at the QEH only confirmed the fact that I want to spend the rest of my life in the hospital. Last year, during take your kid to work day, I went to the hospital into an OR and immediately my blood started rushing. I felt the same pressure in that room that I do on the soccer field and instantly, I knew that I was raised to save lives.