The day before my 17th birthday I remember sitting on the big chair in the doctors office thinking why am I in so much pain? Whats wrong with my body? Then after a month of pain and hospital trips my doctors confirmed I had Lupus and was in my first flare up. I sat there in shock, ive seen stories of famous people with Lupus needing kidney transplants and other big treatments. Would I need this? I thought to myself. Little did I know developing this disease would help me become a better person and help me grow mentally so much. My blood work showed my levels were off and I needed a lot or tests such as a kidney biopsy and MRI of my brain. It all sounded so scary at once I didn’t know what was going to happen. A few months after tests and a new 5 pill medicine regimen, I got my life back on track. I still live a normal life everyday with a balance of good days and bad days. For a bit of time it was hard to maintain my grades but with perseverance I kept them back up. At first I used to always worry about what would happen and would be overthinking it all the time, but it eventually hit me that I can't change it so why dwell on it. There's no cure to undo it, it's not changeable, we're giving in life what we can handle no matter how challenging at first. I know this challenge helped me learn a lot about life and how meaningful it really is and showed me everything happens for a reason, just go with it. This experience also led me to want to help others. I want to go to college to become a RN my dream school has always been Quinnipiac University.This scholarship would help pay my tuition so I can make my dream come true. Money is hard to come by for school with medical bills and medical treatments it would help take a burden off taking out a bunch of student loans. I want to give back to the world for giving me hope after falling to my lowest in life and going to college will help me do that.Overall my disability tried to stop me from accomplishing my dreams, but I proved i’m in control of my own life.

The day before my 17th birthday I remember sitting on the big chair in the doctors office thinking why am I in so much pain? Whats wrong with my body? Then after a month of pain and hospital trips my doctors confirmed I had Lupus and was in my first flare up. I sat there in shock, ive seen stories of famous people with Lupus needing kidney transplants and other big treatments. Would I need this? I thought to myself. Little did I know developing this disease would help me become a better person and help me grow mentally so much. My blood work showed my levels were off and I needed a lot or tests such as a kidney biopsy and MRI of my brain. It all sounded so scary at once I didn’t know what was going to happen. A few months after tests and a new 5 pill medicine regimen, I got my life back on track. I still live a normal life everyday with a balance of good days and bad days. At first I used to always worry about what would happen and would be overthinking it all the time, but it eventually hit me that I can't change it so why dwell on it. There's no cure to undo it, it's not changeable, we're giving in life what we can handle no matter how challenging at first. I know this challenge helped me learn a lot about life and how meaningful it really is and showed me everything happens for a reason, just go with it. This experience also led me to want to help others. Living with a disease with no cure really hurts sometimes. That’s why I chose for my high school Capstone to do Lupus research, and sell shirts and collect donations for the Lupus foundation. Anything can help when a community comes together. Seeing how Lupuses life expectancy used to be five years to now can live a normal life just through donations funding research and treatments getting more advanced.I hope someday there is a cure for this disease so that new generations of Lupus warriors can have a great experience and pain free life. That’s what gave me the motivation for my capstone project.Overall Lupus has made me a better person and I appreciate all the things the world has to offer seeing how my world almost came crumbling down.