A few years ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease. Hashimotos is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck called the thyroid. It caused the thyroid to not produce enough hormones. Luckily, I am getting treatment because if this disease is left untreated, it could be life-threatening. Some side effects of Hashimotos include; fatigue, sensitivity to cold, dry skin, muscle aches, joint pain, depression, memory loss, poor concentration, and many more. Because of my disease, I have made a huge shift in my diet. I avoid all gluten and dairy products and this has helped immensely. Unfortunately, I experience all of these symptoms daily. All though, these make living day to day extremely hard, I try my very best to not let my disease affect my way of living. For example, if I feel super tired one day, I will go out for coffee with my friends. If I notice that the cold weather has really been seeming to bother me, I will go out and buy myself a cute new jacket. If I am having a dry skin day, I will take the night to myself to really relax by showering, and doing a full skincare routine. Muscle aches? Invite some friends over to jump in the hot tub to relax. Feeling down and depressed? I will get out my journal and begin writing down how I am feeling that day. If I am at school and I am having trouble concentrating, my teachers will always allow me to leave class and go to the library where there are fewer distractions so I can focus on my work. Even though I go through some pretty tough things, I always have an alternative to flip the "negative" side of things around and really focus on the good things in life. If you think about it, any negative situation in life has the opportunity to get turned around and get used for positive growth. When I mention my struggles to others, I often get comments like, "oh my gosh I am so sorry", "are you okay?", or "dang that sounds awful". But in all honesty, with the flipped view and a mindset shift, it really hasn't been that bad. My teachers have been a huge help along with my medication, doctors, etc. But in all reality, everyone in life has their own issues and struggles. And Hashimotos just happens to be mine.

Many people in my life have been such big supporters and mentors in my life and I am extremely grateful for them. During high school I have lost my best friend causing me to suffer severe depression and anxiety. Through everything I have been put through, the one person who has been there for me the whole time is my math teacher, Mrs. Fore. Mrs. Fore is everyones favorite teacher. She always has snacks in her classroom for students to grab when they are hungry, she has water bottles available, and her door is always open with her arms spread wide out welcoming students into her room. She makes time to attend every single sporting event, musical, play, etc., to go and support her students. I walked into my high school on the first day of my freshman year and went to my first period class, math. I had never liked math, it never really made too much sense to me. But I walked in and there stood Mrs. Fore with a giant smile on her face welcoming all these new baby freshman into her classroom. And from that day on, I have had her as a teacher ever since and have been in her classroom to say hi everyday that I am at school. I think I can speak on the behalf of my entire high school that Mrs. Fore is just simply the best. She sends out weekly emails to all of her classes explaining, in detail, any upcoming events that are that week. A lot of people think math is boring, and I would have agreed with them all the way up until I had Mrs. Fore as a teacher. She makes learning so fun, in ways that you would never even think of. For example, this year we learned how to graph trig functions. Sounds extemely boring, right? But instead of testing on this subject, Mrs. Fore had us create a rollercoaster using trig graphs. Making class fun like she does, is basically the key to success. Although Mrs. Fore and her husband have three kids of her own, she has another whole army of children at my high school. Her nickname is literally, "Momma 4". In almost every single picture taken at my school, someone is holding up the number 4 in honor of Mrs. Fore. She is the best mentor, mother, teacher, and friend.