Meet the 2021 Scholars

"Living through a global pandemic with a chronic illness, what is one piece of inspirational advice that you would give to other students with CF who are in the same or similar position?"

People ask me how scary it must be to live in the time of Covid-19. Often to their surprise, my response is “not so much, welcome to my world”. The pandemic has alerted much of the world to the morbid truth of illness that is well-known to those with chronic conditions. When requirements to distance and wear masks were integrated into daily life, they were not foreign to me, having already been ingrained in my rituals since youth. This is the case for many of us diagnosed with CF. On the bright side, few individuals have the same privilege of daily experience in health maintenance—we are more prepared than anyone to fight against this pandemic, take heart in that. Cystic Fibrosis is a battle, but there is growth that comes from hardships like these. Learning from my own path, the best advice is a simple platitude: love your body. Despite the imperfections that you see—PICC line scars, persistent cough, rosy cheeks flushed from exhaustion. Your DNA is uniquely your own, mutation and all. Embrace that! It is easy to feel down about the obstacles awaiting us in this journey, but our illness is not a reflection of self-worth. There is an internal power in each of us, enough to inspire confidence in ability, determination in goals, and gentleness toward the self all while maintaining an unrelenting attack on the ailments of CF. Loving yourself is only going to increase your passion in the fight for life.