The Story Of…
A speech about a friend who lost both parents to cancer before he'd even finished school, and what he taught me about staying calm inside chaos.
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
I left the title unfinished on purpose: you'll know whose story this is by the end.
Sylvester Stallone said it best: "Life ain't about how hard you hit, it's all about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."
Fellow Toastmasters, does anyone know someone who's been through ongoing struggle and just kept going anyway? I want to tell you about someone like that, someone who means a lot to me, in the hope that his story hands you something useful for your own.
I've known Sachin since middle school. He's resourceful, sharp, creative, politically engaged, environmentally conscious, frugal, hardworking, thoughtful, and stubborn in the best way.
What he's carried:
- He lost his mother in high school and his father in college, both to cancer. Losing both parents that young means losing the people who were supposed to guide you through exactly this.
- With no parental support left, he's had to cover medical school, a car, rent, and food entirely on his own.
- He doesn't talk about the weight of it easily: accidents, illness, caregiving, overtime, all carried mostly in silence.
Why I'm telling you this: we need to learn resilience from each other. When you're in the middle of anxiety or depression, seeing how someone else actually got through something hard gives you something to hold onto.
His own line on it: "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." You accept what you can't control, without giving up your say in what happens next.
What I've taken from him:
- Calm: staying mentally clear in a crisis is what makes a wise decision possible, instead of just reacting.
- Detachment: not letting your circumstances write the rest of your story, or trapping yourself inside the problem.
- Resourcefulness: using what you already have, and what you've already been through, to make the next decision better.
- Resilience: every hard thing you get through makes the next one more survivable.
If you're struggling with something, find someone who's already handled a version of it well, and watch how they did it.
Struggle, failure, risk, chaos — they're not things to route around. They're the actual path to getting better. Adversity is the improvement.
Feedback I got: an opening question that pulled people in, real curiosity satisfied by the end, a story that felt authentic, clean delivery, strong eye contact, good vocal variety, and a message — draw strength from other people's stories — that came through clearly.