I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was six years old. And autism spectrum disorder at age 14. I was the 'sunshine child' as my family and teachers would call it when I was younger. That changed as I became a teenager. I started acting out more, I got in more trouble at home, my grades started sinking, I stopped hanging out with friends, I got addicted to things I shouldn't, and I wasn't always a joy to be around. The hardest part was I couldn't maintain healthy relationships or friendships. Which led to my getting diagnosed with depression and anxiety. We see people in magazines and they want to be like them so they go to different measures to try and achieve that stereotypical look. I've seen my friends get hurt and sick from doing it. I myself am on the more masculine side of females and I often get told I dress like a boy. I've had people throw that in my face. It has made me question if that's how I'm supposed to be, do I need to change? Do I need to be like this or be like that? Am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Am I strong enough? Am I this or that? It makes me question who I am. It's caused me to dress differently depending on where I'm at and who I'm with. I'm also not heterosexual so there is a lot of backlash for that as well. All these things make it hard for me to be who I truly am. I kinda bottle myself up resulting in masking. My true colors don't really shine, cause I'm trying to fit the mold society has created. I get told I can't do certain things because I'm a female, and that I should leave the heavy lifting to the men. I remember when Scouts BSA let females join we got called Girl Scouts often and it really bugged us all. Because we weren't Girl Scouts we were just scouts. A lot of people were disappointed that we weren't selling Girl Scout cookies. Boy's troops said we weren't tough enough. I used that as a drive to prove them wrong. I didn't want to be seen as less than. My troop ended up winning or placing in all our competitions. Self-care is tremendously important. If you don't take care of yourself you'll slip under. I watched some of my friends get addicted to alcohol or smoking/vaping. I lost my uncle to suicide. It took a good wake-up call for me to realize that I needed help. That wake-up call came after I stopped caring, I stopped doing the things I loved, and I sat around and ate junk food. I lost everything I cared about. I couldn't continue moving forward as I was. So I decided it's time to put myself first because if I can't care for myself I can't care for others. So I started writing songs that told a story to express what was going on in my head. I started Taekwondo which allows me to get my anger and frustration out on dummies, or punching bags instead of hurting others. Every day I take time for myself before tending to others. I do a weekly check-in with those close to me. In the end, people are gonna believe what they want, and they'll say what they want. We can't change that. All that matters is that we are the best version of ourselves that we can be and we don't let the negative control us.

Healthcare is an enormous umbrella covering numerous fields. With the cost of school going up it steers many away from medical school because it's extraordinarily expensive. Along with the time-consuming aspect. Healthcare is an important field but it's a long and expensive one. I am pursuing a career in sports medicine, this is because the sports medicine field has had a big impact on my life. I sustained some pretty unfortunate injuries throughout my life. And as A person who loves to be active and loves sports. Being told that I couldn't anymore was devastating. Doctors didn't know what to do. Their knowledge at the time wasn't quite enough to get me back doing what I loved most. It wasn't till 5 or so years later that we figured out what to do and I could return. So I want to contribute to the field since it did and is still doing so much for me. My lengthy history has inspired my pursuit of this particular healthcare field. My last name Summe is connected to the Summe Medical Clinic. My grandfather Dr. Tommy Summe started that clinic and it's now owned by my Uncle, Dr. Jeff Summe. That has also been another source of my inspiration. I started my senior year with a sports medicine class, and I've noticed my above-and-beyond engagement in that class. With working ahead, doing intricately detailed notes, projects, and diagrams, and helping others when they're stuck. On top of that taking field experience sports medicine which allows me to put my knowledge to real-life tests when I'm on the sidelines of sports games supplying aid to injured athletes. After high school, I plan on taking a year of community college to get my basic classes done. From there I plan on transferring to Washington State University to get my masters in Athletic Training and my Bachelor's in kinesiology. Possibly going into pre-physical therapy. Throughout college, I hope to get internship opportunities so I can gain experience to set me up for a well-paying job after graduating from WSU. In the end, I want to work for different professional sports teams. Traveling and helping others continue to do what they love. But I don't just want to treat injuries and supply aid to recovering injured athletes. I want to find better ways to tackle injuries and rehabilitation. My dream of being a college gymnast and future gymnastic Olympian was shattered due to the lack of knowledge of the particular injuries that I unfortunately sustained. I don't want others to have to go through what I did if I can help it.

I've gone through my fair share of waves of possible career choices. I could honestly do any one of them because I'm good at what I do. I originally thought that I was gonna go into the engineering field because I loved to tinker and design and build things. I still do but I realized that what I truly wanted to pursue was sports medicine. It's hard to pinpoint when exactly I found interest in that but I know for sure it was throughout my long and continuing journey with my injuries and musculoskeletal joint problems. So I've taken numerous trips to the clinic and athletic trainers for numerous reasons. Once I realized that this was something I wanted to do I did what I could to prepare for the start of my career journey. I switched high schools mid-first semester of my senior year to help me achieve the goals that I had. Even though it meant leaving everything that I knew and starting over. But I did what I had to do to get the best opportunities to help further my education.

Giving back to the community that helped me, that's my goal. I want to pursue a career in sports medicine. I have chosen this path because of my lengthy history with it. I used to be a gymnast but that had to come to a devastating abrupt end due to the chronic knee problems I was facing. Even though I couldn't be a gymnast anymore I still loved sports but I couldn't participate without the help of athletic trainers and orthopedic doctors. If knee problems weren't enough I broke 2 bones and tore my arch in my foot in the summer of 2023. Adding another long healing process and adjusting the way that I do the things I love. It's a never-ending cycle. Besides my own experiences with injuries, my dad has been another source of inspiration for the career path I've chosen because he started learning how to make orthotics for ice skaters. He started teaching me about the muscles of the foot and how they work with the bones and ligaments. So I decided that I wanted to give back to the community that helped me tremendously. I plan to spend a year at Edmonds Community College to get my basic classes done then transfer to Washington State University to get a bachelor's in sports medicine science. Once I have completed that I want to go on to get my masters in athletic training. While furthering my education I want to intern for athletic trainers or physical therapists to gain the field experience to be able to get a good job after completing my education. My end goal is to work with professional sports teams to help every athlete practice and compete at their best every single time. I want to use my knowledge to help athletes continue to be able to do what they love.

My name is Hailey, I am an AuDHD kid, meaning I have both autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. I am the oldest of my 7 siblings. The 6 oldest kids are adopted. I am a very adventurous and creative person. I have a wide variety of hobbies and interests that have changed throughout my life so far, but a couple have stuck with me since I fell in love with them, including motocross, music, and more recently sports medicine. Music has been my biggest passion since I was a little girl. I played the trumpet in elementary school but I fell out of love with that. So I started playing guitar and learning how to write my own songs at the beginning of the pandemic. I am still a self-taught guitar player, I like that because it allows me to do music my way. Music is the way that I express how I feel when I can't quite put it into words. The best way to know how I'm feeling is to see what I'm listening to, or what I'm writing about in my songs. Music is my outlet when things get chaotic in life. I fell in love with motocross in 8th grade after a dirt bike summer camp I took part in. From there it grew into something I do every summer. My friends think that I'm crazy for jumping a bike that weighs more than I do. For me motocross is about the thrill, the way that I feel when I'm riding. I get to be competitive with an adrenaline rush that makes me feel like I'm on top of the world. It's one of the greatest feelings to me. With motocross being mainly a guy's sport, I get a lot of backlash that I should be doing something different and that it's too dangerous for girls. Which makes getting better feel even better. Proving those who said I couldn't that they were wrong. I ended up breaking my foot in the summer of 2023 but I didn't let that end my journey. I was back on my bike the following summer. Sports Medicine is a more recent passion, though it is something I have long been interested in. I have had my fair share of broken bones, and joint problems. Especially with my knees and feet. My knee problems put an end to my gymnastics career and impacted the way that I did anything moving forward. It was hard losing a part of myself I was so sure of. If it wasn't for all the athletic trainers and orthopedic doctors I wouldn't be able to do the sports that I love right now, so I want to give back to the community that helped me so much.

I'm adopted along with my 7 other younger siblings. I am a first-generation college student, and a first-generation high school graduate biologically. That alone is a big accomplishment in itself. Especially since there is a high chance none of my other siblings will be able to go to college due to disabilities. At the age of 6, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I faced a lot of challenges with that. At the age of 14 I was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. I am an AuDHD kid, but I don't look like it. When people look at me they see just a normal person. When I say I'm autistic, they say something like but you can talk, you can learn, you can walk. Yeah, that's all true but those are stereotypes of autism. The truth is I'm not normal, having autism has affected my life a lot. I have a hard time connecting with people. I don't know how to interpret facial expressions, body language, voice cues, and things like that. Unless I've spent time learning how to understand that person. Which made the pandemic incredibly hard for me. Not being able to see people's faces, and hear their voices normally had a drastic impact on my social life. I slipped into some hard times and had an incredibly hard time getting myself back together. I plan on pursuing a major in sports medicine, and a minor in music and arts. Sports medicine is more of a recent passion compared to my passions for music and art. I chose sports medicine as my major because I find it very interesting, and I have a lengthy history with it. In 2018 I fractured the head of my left femur just behind my knee. It left me with all kinds of knee problems. In August 2023 I broke my 2nd and 3rd metatarsal bones and tore my lisfranc ligament, which add to my plethora of foot and knee problems. I want to help athletes perform at their best all day, every day. I want to give back to the thing that has helped me do what I love. I'm choosing to minor in music and art because I've loved music my entire life. I am a hobby guitar player and songwriter. I started to learn guitar in March of 2020. Music is my outlet when life gets crazy and chaotic. Especially during the pandemic. Music lets me express how I feel when I can't physically explain it. My playlist will tell you a lot more about how I'm feeling than I probably ever would.

I was put in foster care as a very young child and was adopted at the age of 3. I am the oldest of 7 siblings. All of which have some sort of problems with knees, feet, back, etc. Being autistic and having ADHD even though it doesn't look like it, it's hard for some people to believe I can take something on as big as this. But I believe if you set your mind to something you can achieve almost anything, within reasonable limits. I've always had a love for sports and science. I took every science class in high school and middle school. I've played sports all of my life. I plan on pursuing a sports medicine career with a music minor. My adopted family has a few doctors. We are family of the 'Summe Medical Clinic' in Edmonds. I've always been interested in medical things as well as sports. So sports medicine is the perfect combination for me. I have a history of many injuries and sports-related problems with knees, feet, shoulder, etc. I broke my 2nd and 2nd metatarsals in my right foot in August 2023 which required surgery, and a long recovery road, adding to my plethora of foot problems I already had. I fractured my femur head just behind my left knee in October 2018. Leaving me with ongoing knee problems I've seen a variety of different people to treat my injuries and problems. But the athletic trainers through high school have made the biggest impact on my life. Helping me continue to do what I love, without holding me back. My dad recently started orthopedics for feet, and he makes custom insoles for ice skaters, and he does insoles for family and friends as well for everyday wear. I have surely picked up a lot of terminology from him. I want to make a difference to every athlete I can. Give them the opportunities to do the things they love. Being denied participation in sports and unable to afford proper treatment. I've had to learn how to take care of my injuries. I want to pass on my knowledge to help other athletes perform at their best, all day every day. There is sure a lack of athletic trainers in schools. I want to give back to the places that gave me so much. I want to help others while doing what I love to do.

Music is a lifeline to many. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have music in my life. I've loved music all of my life, but my passion for it grew as I went through high school. Especially with COVID and starting high school through a pandemic. Music, specifically guitar playing was a major lifeline for me during lockdown and through the rest of the pandemic. I started learning how to play the guitar in March of 2020 just as lockdown started. As things got more stressful, more music became necessary for me. When we were back in school I rarely took my headphones/earbuds off, always having music playing in the background. I relied and still do rely on music when things get crazy and chaotic. Music has helped me understand and express how I feel. Being autistic and having ADHD it's really hard for me to express or understand how I feel. My playlist will tell you a lot more about me than I would probably ever say. To me, country music is all about emotion and life lessons. Which helps me connect with my inner self and understand more of who I am on a deeper level. Some specific songs that have been the most impactful to me are "Hard to Love" By Lee Brice. I feel a hit close to home when I hear that song play because sometimes I do feel that I am hard to love and some points in my life. It wasn't till I was 16 that I went to my first live concert to see Tim McGraw and that changed everything. My passion for music at least tripled for sure. I've been told numerous times that music won't make you enough money to live a substantial life. But I don't care about that. I care about the impact that music has on me and others. I have a passion for music for the connection, not the dollar sign next to it. I've only shared my music with my friends. And they've been the biggest supporters throughout my music adventure. I feel a lot of songs are about heartbreak or finding love and as much as I love those songs I really love the songs about good life lessons. For example "Good Times Go By Too Fast" By Dylan Scott, and "Til You Can't" By Cody Johnson. Those two songs are very valuable and meaningful life lessons. I keep those songs in the back of my mind every day. I like writing songs myself rather than learning to play songs written by other people. Because I may not be able to say exactly how I feel in regular words, but I can put it into music pretty easily. Music is an outlet for me, one that lets my emotions out. Everyone should be able to experience no matter the circumstance or disability they may have. I want to show others about my experiences through music. I want to inspire others to take a shot at music. I come from a place where music artists aren't really taking off. Because I'm not from a big city like Hollywood. But that doesn't matter. My goal is to give everyone a chance to experience the life-changing possibilities through music that I had.

We didn't find out I had Autism until I was 14 which made the start of high school a struggle. Since I was little I was a very outgoing person but then I became more reserved. It went untested and unnoticed because I didn't have any major indications that didn't also fall into ADHD. The only indications that I had when I was little were slight sensitivity to noise and the way I interacted with peers. Both fall under the side effects of having ADHD. We only found out that I had autism after relationships kept blowing up in my face and it seemed that no matter what we did we never understood why I was doing the things that I would do. And it made it hard for me to keep friends. It's not that I have a hard time making friends I have a hard time keeping friends because of bad habits I developed over the years of my life. It's hard to undo 17 years of bad habits in just a few weeks. Having Autism has affected my everyday life in many ways from not understanding peers to not being able to comprehend readings. Other things that are affected are my ability to handle loud noises unless it is music. Something about music is different. Another part is certain textures bother me. So it changes what I wear and what I handle. It's really hard for people to understand because when most people think of autistic kids they think of people who can't learn, speak, or act, normally. Well, the truth is I have autism but I'm not the stereotypical autistic kid most people think of. I can learn, and speak as any other kid my age. People blame things on my ADHD and say things like "Oh you can't have ADHD and Autism." Well, the truth is you can and I do. I don't let it stop me though knowing that I have autism allows me to use it like a superhero. While there are things others can do that I can't. There are things that I can do that they can't. Autism has influenced the way I think and go about my daily life. I have to think twice before doing things. I am not disabled, I just function differently. For me it's about proving others wrong. Doing the things people say I can't do because I'm "disabled."