Meet the 2023 Scholars

"Write a letter to your younger self during a key moment in your life addressing one or more of the following: words of encouragement, lessons you have learned and/or challenges you have overcome."

Dear younger me, In a perfect world, your second grade year consists of making new friends, playing games, learning new things, and making lasting memories. Instead, it's been filled with doctors appointments, treatments, missed school days, and now a hospital visit. It's not hard for even a seven year old to understand that you are just not like the other kids. The other kids don't have to spend hours a day doing treatments and get winded riding their bike with friends. I know you can't understand why it had to be you that was born with Cystic Fibrosis out of all people. You check into the hospital wondering"why me?" and think this is just the beginning of it all, it's only going to get worse from here. I'm officially leaving for college in two months and I am writing this letter to encourage you to keep going. You have no idea how better life is going to get for you. I know you're not going to believe this, but instead of constantly hiding your illness, you learned to embrace it. You have raised thousands of dollars for a cure by talking about your experiences with Cystic Fibrosis, something you thought you would never do. You started taking a life-changing medication that allows you to be a normal teenager, and you don't even need your chest therapy anymore because you're so healthy. You graduated highschool as a Summa Cum Laude and you are going to college to follow your dreams of becoming a nurse so you can be a person that helps others and makes a lasting impact. All of this was possible because you kept fighting and never let your illness define you. You never gave up, even when life got hard like it is now. It is so easy to get down about your Cystic Fibrosis and wonder"why me?". And I'm telling you that it is okay to be sad for a while as long as you pick yourself up and keep fighting. You have no idea how many people you are going to inspire and how many challenges you are going to overcome in your life. Your illness does not limit you, you limit yourself. You have to keep fighting even when it gets hard because you are going to do great things. Love, Your eighteen year old self