<h2>Sorry for the obnoxious title. Anyhow, I'd appreciate a score x/12. Thanks!</h2>
<h2>What motivates people to change?</h2>
<p>In the bestselling book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir says, "it is wrong, what they say, that you can bury the past." Our past is the only record and possible prediction of how we will act in the future. Therefore, only upon reflecting on our past can we be motivated to change. </p>
<p>In my sophomore year of high school, my sister, who was at college at the time, was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin's lymphoma. Cancer. She took the rest of the semester off to live with us at home while receiving treatment. </p>
<p>Prior to her diagnosis, my sister was an aggressive girl. She was critical of people and often didn't given them a chance. This had only pushed me to excel, however, to others, she was merely a spoiled, cruel, beauty queen.</p>
<p>During the time that my sister was receiving treatment, she spent days contemplating her situation. She never went as far as believing G-d was punishing her for her cruelty to others, but she realized that because life was so fragile and ephemeral, she couldn't waste it being a bad person to others. </p>
<p>She remains cancer-free to this day. She now has a completely different focus on life. She joined her school's cancer society and switched her major to oncology nursing. Most of all, she's more watchful of what she says to others. </p>
<p>That very same quote from "The Kite Runner" motivated Amir to change. His past haunted him. When he was merely a boy, he had betrayed his brother Hassan by abandoning him when the Taliban took control of Kabul. He also watched as terrible things happened to Hassan, too afraid and arrogant to help him. </p>
<p>Once he received a phone call from an old friend telling him that Hassan had died but that he still had a chance to redeem himself, Amir changed. He realized that Hassan had given him so much in childhood, and that it was his duty to repay him. </p>
<p>Cancer and the death of an old friend, while outside forces, are indeed just sad events without self-reflection. Only upon realizing the mistakes we made in the past, can we change for the better.</p>