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?"

Growing up, I played on the same travel soccer team for 11 years. During that majority of my childhood, my coach became a strong mentor in my life, and his guidance off of the field only matched his direction during games. He often said, “You’ve got one to beat! Just one to beat!” My coach would shout this whenever a teammate made a breakaway towards the goal and only had to shoot the ball past the goal keeper. We only had one more opponent to overcome-one more obstacle to defeat before we scored. Now, I realize that a game does not end after your team scores, in fact, you must keep scoring over and over again to insure a victory. However, I understood that my coach’s simple encouragement applied to much more than just a soccer game. There have been several obstacles in my life- several things to beat, and Cystic Fibrosis is definitely the largest one. Every day I wake up, take countless pills, and start a breathing treatment for my CF. Every day I have to tell myself, “Just one to beat.” The days run into months and the months to years where I find myself pushing forward, beating one day of CF at a time until a cure is found. The difficulties in my life have shaped me just as much as my blessings, and Cystic Fibrosis has been there since the beginning. CF is my obstacle, and it is just one to beat.