It was my kindergarten year, and there was nothing I wanted more than to return to school. I was confined to the barren walls of the hospital room, restricting me to the same nightly reruns of the Price is Right. I was limited to a diet of crackers, dry mac and cheese, and the occasional ambiguously colored popsicles. I was harnessed to the bed I wished to crawl out of every night, the same bed that I endured countless shots every morning on. I missed all the friends I had at school and the games we’d play, the people at the hospital were nothing like those at my school, everyone seemed unhappy. At school, we were always told to be positive, but here it seemed as if people were being forced to keep a frown on their face. The days went by slowly and I could not fathom spending the next month in this same routine. It was not until I made a new friend at the hospital, a student at a local university who spent his weekends volunteering at the hospital. He would bring his Ipad, and just play games with me for hours. During these hours, I’d finally feel the happiness that I missed from my school. It was also when my imagination was able to escape the constraints of the walls around me and fly away to places that I’ve always loved. Then Monday would come, and he’d be gone, but I knew all I had to do was make it to Saturday to see my friend again. Weeks passed, and I made a true friend. Many years later I was visiting a friend in the same hospital and asked about this volunteering program, and to my shock, not one person had any recollection of such a program. It was that very moment that inspired me to give back the moments of joy I once experienced, and to give every kid the “Pixel Pal” that I once had. 

​

-LAITH ABUOQAB