Meet the 2019 Scholars

"Choose one inspirational quote or motto that has helped you throughout your journey with cystic fibrosis. How do you live by your quote or motto and how has it motivated you to accomplish your goals?"

"Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with." - Iron Man Nothing is more meaningful to me than Marvel. I grew up with the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man and the original Fantastic Four movies. My dad and I would watch each new film release together and, as I grew older, my love for Marvel snowballed. Since I spend a couple of hours each day on medical treatments, I pass that time watching the films, learning about the actors, and immersing myself in the genre. Marvel movies were, and are, my entertainment release – but I also identify with regular people who battle, overcome and never give up. On the screen, they are superheroes, doing superhuman things. But to me, they are characters outside the "normal" – perhaps even a little bit marginalized – who do good anyway. And not for themselves, but because inside they are decent, fair people who see injustice and feel compelled to fight it. I'm no superhero, but I am a strong-willed fighter who lives a life just left of "normal." I must battle every day to overcome the assaults of Cystic Fibrosis, but CF does not define who I am, and it does not define my limits. Whether diagnosed with resistant bacteria, taking four AP classes simultaneously, or playing six back-to-back softball games, I get to determine my destiny (to paraphrase Iron Man), despite the powers - or liabilities - I happened to be born with.