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?"

Suddenly, I could no longer hear the rest of her sentence and my eyes fell to the floor. It wasn't the first time my life had changed its course in the blink of an eye growing up with cystic fibrosis. As I sat in my doctor's office looking at the bright Phoenix sky, a new threat had emerged, an abdominal tumor. We received a wealth of information that day, but the only news I heard was that I may never golf competitively again. Sadness pressed down on me like an unbearable weight. I felt like I was losing my dream, and I didn't know what would replace it. Time on the golf course began when I was just eight. Other sports came and went, but the clubs never collected dust. I grew to love the unique challenge each shot presented and the discipline it took to master. I would spend weekends with kids who loved the game as much as I did. My parents refer to these friends as "brother golfers," and they are like an extension of our family and the siblings I don't have. There is something very powerful about a game that can introduce a new friend into your life by simply playing an afternoon round together. Its influence has shaped who I am today. Discipline on the golf course transitioned into discipline with my health. My outward appearance gives no indication that a chronic illness resides within. I was only fourteen when the tumor was discovered, and a routine visit suddenly became anything but. My doctor was concerned the tumor was attached to the abdominal wall, and she may need to remove muscle to get all margins. Her fear was that I would have physical limitations after the operation and may not be able to golf again, especially on a competitive level. The days that passed before knowing the biopsy results and the operation itself were long and difficult. I golfed nearly every day leading up to the surgery. All I wanted to do, was hold a club and take full swings. After the procedure, I was blessed to have results come back benign and very little abdominal muscle removed. We all face challenges and difficult times, but the people I know who have lived through or live with a medical ordeal understand without words how that experience shapes your life. Living with cystic fibrosis has given me strength to overcome obstacles and perseverance to never give up. When I look back, it's hard to say if I would have handled the situation differently. I was very young and told that something I loved to do may be taken away. I would still feel that same pain today. I think, however, that if the outcome would have been different, that somehow I would have found a way to play golf. I've seen people who play in wheelchair carts, with artificial limbs, and down syndrome. I don't think anything would have stopped me.