Meet the 2024 Scholars

"Describe a defining moment in your journey with CF that sparked personal growth or resilience. How did this experience affect you and what did you learn from this moment?"

It was the end of my junior year of high school and summer was just around the corner. I was playing basketball with my friends one afternoon and while going to the basket my friend and I collided and fell directly onto my foot. I felt an instant pain in my foot and went to an urgent care later that day, and was told by my radiologist that I had fractured my foot and would be put in a cast for two months. I was devastated that I would have to spend the summer crutching around with my family during trips and sitting out when my friends were playing sports. Come to find out these would be the least of my problems. I spent the majority of the summer on the couch or in bed and felt an old enemy that I thought I'd controlled come back into my life, my CF. Within a couple months my cough was the worst it had been since starting my modulator therapy, I continued losing energy, and the worries and pain I had grown up with began seeping back in. By the end of the summer my health was in such bad shape that I was hospitalized and put on IV antibiotics two weeks before my senior year. There were many quiet, lonely nights in my hospital room which gave me a lot of time to think about my CF, how I ended up back here, and the unknowns of the future. As I reflected back on my life it became apparent to me that I had a choice to make regarding my health and my life. The choices were I could either continue feeling sorry for myself and believing I had no control over my condition, or I could get back up and fight. I chose the latter. I chose an optimistic attitude, began walking around my floor with the nurses, and after building up some strength we began taking trips to the treadmill. As my stay came around the two week mark, my team and I had gotten my health into a place where my doctor felt confident letting me continue my IV antibiotics at home so I could go to my first day of senior year. This experience taught me a lot about CF, as well as life. No matter how hard I try, I can never eliminate the possibility of the inevitable setbacks and challenges that life throws at me. What I do have full control over is how I respond to those challenges and the attitude I wake up with every single day. Whether it be an unexpected lung infection, an injury during sports, or getting denied from a job application, I make the decision of how I respond. CF has taught me to never give up no matter the struggles, because living with a chronic disease should never stop you from pursuing the things you love.