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?"

August 15, 2020, is the day that I will always remember as the defining moment not only in my CF journey but also in my growth as a woman on my own. This was the day that my parents dropped me off for my freshman year in college. It was in the midst of the COVID pandemic, so not only would I be away from home for the first time, but I would be living alone in my dorm room in order to not further complicate my CF with COVID. That first night, I recall having a mini meltdown, thinking, What have I done? How am I ever going to make it all alone? What if I get sick in the middle of the night? Who will be here for me? How will I ever remember all the things I need to do to stay healthy and be successful in college? How am I going to make friends with all my classes being virtual? So many questions swirled through my mind, but then the one thing my mother always said when I was upset or having CF flare up came to me: "Take a breath, Morgan," so I did. This was when I decided that I could do all of these things and more. Little did I know that I had gained so much knowledge, strength, and skill growing up, from so many different people, that I was fully prepared to take off my practice jersey and get in the game. My parents never hid my illness from others; in fact, they involved as many people as possible in my CF journey. Relatives and neighbors would take part in my treatments and even try my equipment, so that I was never considered different. My grandmother used to come to every appointment with me, playing games with me to keep my mind off the impending poking and prodding. My doctors and nurses would quiz me on my medications and dosages at my visits to ensure I learned them myself. My brothers never treated me as a sister with a terminal illness, more like the annoying little sister I probably was. My aunt used to take me to restaurants and make me order my own meals and count out my own medications. I would personally deliver my accommodation letters to teachers each year and speak to them about my condition. And the most important lesson my mom used to teach me was to try and make a new friend every day. All of these small things, simple as they were, affected my entire college experience. I made friends virtually, then in person. I calmed myself on nights I was up sick; I made decisions, ordered medications, built relationships with professors, and most importantly, created my own destiny. I am a strong, independent, involved woman who has so much to offer, and, by the way, I have CF. My defining moment became my path to a life full of experiences and successes.