Growing up as a student in special ed brought me so many challenging, as well as it brought a lot of bullying and harassment from my able-bodied peers. I was diagnosed with Anxiety at the ripe age of 9. My mental health was terrible. I went through all of elementary school, middle school, and high school wishing so many days that I wasn't here. Wishing that everything could end. I was in middle school during the pandemic, And I remember the day before school shut down my mom was about to remove me from schooling to homeschool me due to how bad the bullying was getting, and the lack of care that administration had. I Came out as asexual to my mom around my freshman year of highschool, and that unfortunately brought its own challenges. My father doesnt really understand LGBTQ so to this day I've never told him, My mom was accepted but the world isn't as so. Almost every person who is under the queer umbrella has troubles with friends, family, coworkers, and the public judging, dirdiminating, verbal/physical harassment and more, just for who we choose to love, or express ourselves for who we truly are. Ive had so many negative experiences with being Ace, and trying to explain it and being so shot down, and told "you're young, you dont. know what you're talking about" "Just get a boyfriend, you'll change your mind" "That isn't normal" and more. Already struggling with Anxiety and depression, that added stress and dehumanization takes a lot out of me, therefore I just stop talking about it. Im going into education, specifically special education. I plan on being a teacher who is going to pay attention to the signs that a student is being bullied at school and I will be stepping in. Knowing that im already working with a group at students who are already more likely to be bullied than their peers is awful. No student, no matte their ability, their religion, their sex, their gender, who they love, or mental health status should be getting bullied. The best, and most easiest way to beat this stigma on bullying is to just be kind. Its that simple. If highschool me were shown more kindness, just even a smile, or a friendly wave my high school experience would've gone so much more smoothly and I would probably be happier. I know I am always going to struggling with my mental health but knowing that I could've had teachers that care is what will make teh difference for my future students.

I was diganosied with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 when I was around 2, even though I was suspected with it at birth. Neurofibromatosis is a neurological disorder that causes tumors to form on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. NF has many side effects, like poor eyesight/blindness loss of hearing, poor balance, learning disabilities, scoliosis and more. One of the biggest struggles that I have with my NF is my scoliosis. My spine is bent, and what makes my case different against others with scoliosis, is my spine is also covered in tumors. NF is just one of the disabilities that. My anxiety, POTS, and EDS also have given me many challenges. I was constantly in and out of school for doctor appointments, test, MRIs, chemotherapy, and more. And even as a college student, this summer semester alone I have missed 4 classes for doctor appointments, and I’m only enrolled in 1 class. My scoliosis makes some of the things I enjoy doing hard, like hiking. I enjoy spending so much of my time outside exploring but every step I take my feet ache, my back hurts, and I’m out of breath. But I still keep my head high, grab some hiking poles, and keep going. I know that my disabilities have limited me in some ways, and I may not be able to run super fast, but I can still walk. And that is something I do not take for granted. My vision and hearing is also something that we are worried with for me in the future. One of the ways that I have started to work on this follows with my career path. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, and have recently moved towards a path in special education. One of the things that I would like to complete is a minor in American Sign Language. ASL has been a language I have loved since a kid. It was astonishing to me that people could communicate through their hands, and it’s given me another reason to be interested in special education because i would be a teacher who’s not only interested in the language, but also the culture of deaf and hard of hearing students. I know my schooling hasn’t been easy, I know that I will probably still miss some college classes for appointments, or take a semester off to fix my sphenoid dysplasia and cross my fingers I can save the vision that I still have in that eye. A lot of this keeps me up at night, but I also have to remember what I have done, and how far I have come. I was given an opportunity to do Early Middle College and got almost halfway through my degree in a community college, I am now studying at my dream university, which is right next to my house so I can save money by living with my mom, while working at a job I didn’t think I could work at because of the fast paced environment, going into my first year in the honor role with a 4.0 GPA. So many things, I never thought I could do, But I would have to say, the reason I’ve been able to do some of these, is because my disabilities pushed me to do them. Thank you for your time and your consideration. :)

The standard that I chose to focus on is very commonly used in the Michigan Department of Education’s (MDE) curriculum under Social and Emotional learning. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), they define social and emotional learning as the process of developing students and adults social and emotional competencies, including the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that individuals need to make successful choices. This also helps teach students to understand, comprehend, and regulate their emotions, successfully complete their short term or long term goals, take the perspective or point of view from those around them, develop positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. I have often felt like social and emotional learning was never really used a lot when I was growing up, and has been a bigger focus for MDE’s teachers moving forward. I chose this because growing up I was constantly told that if I just kept studying, or just kept practicing I would become perfect, and it took me so long as a kid to realize that I could never be perfect, because perfect wasn’t real. Straight A’s on my report card didn’t show someone all that I was, the way I help others, the way I use kind language, the way that I am the first to volunteer to help isn’t shown on a report card, but it’s a big part of who I am, and many other past, current, and future students. If you keep practicing, you’ll improve. You’ll get better, you will see a difference. But you can keep practicing and keep trying because you’ll only get better at whatever you trying to master. I choose the color of my poster to be yellow. Yellow is a very simple color, that doesn’t often appear in nature Ironically, but we have deemed to be the color of “happiness”. Yellow is the color of the sun, which gives us light. Yellow is the color of daisy which sway in the wind, yellow is the color of the bumblebee flying by, and yellow is also the color of everyone’s favorite #2 pencil. I feel like when students look at the color yellow they see the happiness that the color brings, and also that fun little quick of school. I think that this poster is a reminder to students to keep trying, and remind them that nobody is the best, because we are all great at something. I also threw in gold stars to remind the students that they too are stars. I believe visual learning is also important to students because it helps grab another part, or way, that students learn. Most students learn verbally, some have to look at something to understand, and others; like myself, are hands on and need to be right there in the moment, hands deep into an activity. By having visual learning items in your room, it gives the students something to look at. Instead of staring at a big video gave screen, they can look at something, like an affirmation, to remind them that they can do this. This will be something that hangs in my future Early Special Ed classroom, because I too even need the reminder that it’s okay to not be perfect, you can keep trying and you will see that positive outcome.

“ Pisces and Gemini, but I think we might go really nice together” from Olivia’s lead single in her newest alumb, ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love’ This resented with me the most because I am a Pisces myself. I was born on March 19th, and ironically, my best friend of about 12 year’s star sign is Gemini, and he was born on May 30th. I’ve enjoyed this lyric when I heard it because I immediately thought of my best friend and I, and how over the years we’ve sometimes been bad with contact, especially during the pandemic, but have recently gotten back in touch and we are doing things to help keep the both of us motivated. I recently lost my stepfather back in October, and since then I’ve started to run. It’s been a way to help me deal with my emotions and feelings, and is helping me feel better about myself. I am not a good runner, or a fast runner, but one of the people who has stood by me the most, and has checked in to see if I have ran today is my best friend. He will send me his very own runs to make sure I do mine. He even helped convinced me to sign up for a Half Marathon in March, and we often go out to nice pathways or hiking to get out and explore. The loss of my stepdad has been one of the most challenging things in my life. He lost is battle with stage four pancreatic cancer, and he was one of my biggest supporters in helping me deal with my own battle against Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Dealing with my health issues, and the grief of my stepdad has taken a toll on me and my mental health. Aside from running, or running with my best friend, another way that I have learned to cope is through music. I recently bought a CD player and have slowly started gathering my favorite albums on CD to use my CD player. I lay down on the floor of my bedroom and listen to music, like from Olivia and just breath. Being able to listen to problems that other people have gone through has helped. I have found songs that I can scream to in the car, or even a few I can fall asleep to. I know my personal journey has been a very, very, very bumpy road, and I know my path to healing is going to take a long time, and that time might never come, and that’s okay. I know all I need to do is put on my smile, spread my kindness, toss on my headphones, pull up Olivia’s best songs to run to; which right now is drop dead for the amazing tempo, and run. Run with my shirt on that says EndNF, run with everything I’ve got, run to my best friends house because I do believe a Pisces and a Gemini to go really well together. Thank you for your time and your considerations.

Out of everything that Taylor Swift has done and preformed in her music career, I believe the most moving performance that she did was something that was done off stage and out of the spotlight. Taylor Swift has been to multiple children’s hospitals during her lifetime, on tour, and off of tour. She’s even been to hospitals around the world like the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Australia! She’s frequents the hospitals that are close to home, like Children’s Mercy in Kansas City. I find this the most moving because it shows that Taylor is a genuine person. She could spend time relaxing in the fanciest of hotels, or eating the most expensive dinners, but instead she uses her free time to go say hello to her smallest fans who are going through the worst times of their life. And it’s not even a “hello and goodbye” she stays there for a while, she lets the kids ask questions and have a real, true, one of a kind conversation. As someone who has dealt with childhood cancer, and is now dealing with cancer as an adult, it brings me so much joy that someone like Taylor would take time out of her day to go talk to people like us. People who are struggling with seeing the the road ahead. Neurofibromatosis Type 1; my diagnosis since childhood, has left me a hard road to drive on. One of the best memories that I have is watching the Eras Tour on grainy livestreams and seeing what color Taylor would wear for her 1989 outfit, and when she would come out in a Blue and Green set, me and everyone else with Neurofibromatosis would freak out, because it is the colors that represent it. Does Taylor Swift know that? Probably not. But she still made an impact on a community of people struggling with chronic illness to have a moment of joy that THE Taylor Swift, was wearing our colors. So that is why I adore Taylor Swift. That is why I look up to her as a role model. She is kind, and cares about people, children, who are going through the worst times in their lives. So Taylor Swift, if you ever end up reading this; thank you. Thank you for being someone who is kind. Thank you for being someone who isn’t scared to touch a kid with cancer, or give them a hug. We are just humans too, just trying to get by with one friendship bracelet at a time. Thank you for your time and your consideration.

I wake up every day and crawl out of bed. My eyes linger on my nightstand which is covered in prescription medication bottles and packets. My legs feel like they are on fire, my knees are sore, my head is pounding, my vision is blurry but I still make my bed. I say good morning to my cat, I walk up the stairs and make myself a chai latte. I take a deep breath wondering if I can try to go another day without taking more pain medication. I spend some time scavenging the web, checking my fundraisers, and seeing if there are any updates, any new test, new trials, any type of update for at least one of my chronic illnesses. I was constantly in and out of the hospital as a kid. I struggled with numerous things like Neurofibromatosis Type 1, POTS, EDS, scoliosis, GAD, and more. I have been through over 50 MRIs and I’m just hardly 20 years old, with many more MRIs to come. I think it’s weird, I sit in my neurology waiting room and I’m the youngest person there. I sit in oncology and I’m the youngest one there was well. At one point, I was so positive that I wouldn’t see the end of high school, that I would be too sick to even attempt college and pursue my dream of becoming a special education teacher. But suddenly it’s sophomore year of high school, and I’ve been offered a spot in an Early Middle college program, and then it’s high school graduation and I’m walking the stage with 50 college credits before that diploma even hits my hand. And now I’m starting my sophomore year of college at my dream university, in an honors program. Something that 10 year old me would think was impossible. This past year I have been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA for the first time in my life. I am getting closer and closer to earning my degree in special education, and slowly working towards declaring a minor in American Sign Language. My Neurofibromatosis, and other conditions have taken so much away from me, but that haven’t even touched my kindness. I’ve always believed that you should treat others how you want to be treated. Being in special education during grade school made an impact on me. I felt horrible most of the time, mentally through school and physically due to my rapid declining health, but everyone would always say at conferences that I was one of, if not, the sweetest student they have ever had. With this scholarship, I plan to continue to further my education to becoming an early elementary special education teacher. I want to be a teacher that understands. Understands what’s it’s like to be chronically ill, to understand the pressure of having an IEP and 504 plan, I want to be a teacher that my students can look up to. Someone they can see who has been through the hard, rocky, bumpy road that they are on. And even though this road for me is stretching thousands of miles still, I know I will keep going. I have to. I will keep fighting every day of my life. I will show my bumps and spots for neurofibromatosis, I will wear my stripes for EDS, and I will talk about them. The more we talk about these conditions, the higher chance we have at getting research done, one step closer to a cure. Thank you for your time and consideration, the following attachment is from MyChart documenting Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Thank you.

I like math because it is a challenge for me. I struggled in school, especially in math. I was in special education classes for my math in grade school, which I slowly started to succeed in flying colors. I was often asked if I wanted to switch to gen ed for my math, and I declined every single time. I was happy in special education, going at a pace that helped me understand math. I started to turn math fun, I have this stuffed golden doodle that I got in middle school that I named “Mr Math Paws” and anytime I had math homework I would grab him and set him next to me on the Kicthen table so I could work on my homework. I am now a sophomore in college and I still have Mr Math Paws, he lives on my desk and when I find myself struggling with a problem, I look at him and talk about the problem outloud, and I can always come up with the solution. Am I good at math? No. I suck at math. Math is probably my weakest subject. But I love math. I love the challenge, I love the problem solving, I love the way it puzzles my brain and makes me slow down to think. The next time that you realize that you are stuggeling with math, go find your very own Mr Math Paws, sit down, and ace that next test. If Mr Math Paws believes in you, you can do anything.

“Sometimes the greatest thing that you can do is ask for help.” - Fish in a Tree by Linda Mully Hunt. My journey throughout school was not like the typical kid. I was visiting the special education classroom from time to time, I met with people about my IEP and 504 plans, and I was constantly in and out of the hospitals getting test, pokes, MRIs, and surgery’s done for my Neurofibromatosis Type 1, a neurological disorder that causes tumors to develop on the brain, spinal chord, and nervous systems. I woke up most days feeling horrible, I never did well in math, I was bullied, school was so hard to go to most days, but I still went to school. I had a few teachers who did everything in the power to help me succeed and it made me look up at them. It made me realize that I wanted to do what they were doing, to teach, be a guide, be the person that others looked up to. As I got older I was thinking about going between early childhood education and special education, but still falling in love with both of them. Students in ECE can be a handful, it’s when kids are the most ‘kid’ they’ll ever be. They aren’t focused on a lot of the things that later elementary, middle or even Highschoolers are worried about, they are the kids that run up to their teachers because they missed them this past snow day, they are the students who sit on the rug begging for another chapter in story time, they are so eager to learn. I figured that due to my condition, early childhood and special education would be the best route for me to study. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and by picking a grade with students I felt comfortable with, I know I can succeed. I want to also teach the students things that don’t typically happen in a normal lesson plan, I want to have access to an outdoor classroom and make sure my students are getting so many different examples and perspectives while they learn. I want to make things interactive, while we are talking about the colors of the rainbow, I want the students to try and build a rainbow out of our supplies around the room. Education and learning is supposed to be fun. I’m also passionate students with accmodations. Because I believe I am a roll model. Being diganosied with dislexia, and Neurofibromatosis I had an IEP and a 504 plan, and it sucked when I had to fight my teachers for my accmodations, so many of them just didn’t understand the difference between the two, or that they had to let me have that extra test time and it wasn’t “unfair” to the other students. I want to be proactive about student accmodations. I want to have a list of each one of my students plans to make sure I help them succeed. I will be the teacher that sends an email at the start of the school year to their guardians (because not all students live with parents), listing out their plan, and asking what else can I do. School is for us to learn, And I know I still have so much to learn, but I am ready, and I will be ready and there for each one of my students. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I am a fan of Sabrina because of her music. After the recent loss of my stepfather I have been struggling with trying to motivate myself. My health has deteriorated quickly and I was struggling to do good thing to myself. Recently I have started to run, and one of the ways that has kept me running is by listening to music, and that was music by Sabrina. There are times when I need to sit down and scream the words to sad songs like “emails I can’t send” and other times when I am running, running fast to the beat of songs like “manchild” For an artist who has a ton of different songs, for every mood your in, you can find most songs to run to. I’ve started a running playlist and most of the playlist is filled with Sabrina Carpenter’s songs. She keeps me motivated and helps me remember to keep my head up and keep going, even when it seems the whole world is out for you. My stepdad I don’t think ever listen to Sabrina, but if he knew that her music was the reason I was making myself healthy again he would buy all of her alumbs, front row tickets and more. Thank you Sabrina, you’re helping me feel like me again.

If I would’ve filled this out a few months ago, I would be taking about a completely different story. A story with my nice, complete family, but now I have to share my family, which is missing a big chunk of it. My family consist of me, my older brother James, and my mom. A perfect trio. That’s broken. Back in October, I loss my stepfather due to Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and my whole world fell apart. My stepfather was such an important person in my life, and it made no since why he was up and throwing shot and discuss with me in the spring, and then left us that fall. Everyday I still get up out of bed and get outside. I stare at my throwing gear which is sitting in a dusty corner because I still cannot bring myself to throw without him. I’ve started running, I signed up for a half marathon that I know he would be so proud for me to run, and I’ll run it for him. My schooling has been very different from a typical student. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was offered an opportunity to be apart of Early Middle College program which allowed us to be a full time college string by senior year of high school, spend an extra year or ‘13th’ year, full time college, and then graduate college with an associate or assistant equivalent in credit, then graduate highschool. Most people looked at that and backed away, but I took that opportunity. By the time I graduated high school I was sitting at 50 college credits and transferred to my dream university, Western Michigan. I was offered a spot in the Disney College Program and stayed one full year as a trainer. When I got back to Michigan, Western Michigan offered me a spot in their Lee’s Honor College. I am now studying full time at WMU for early and special education, and working through Kalamazoo Valley Community College, to help declare a minor in American Sign Language at Western. My future plans is to become a special education teacher. I want to be the teacher that I wished I had growing up. I struggled in school, and was constantly in and out due to doctor appointment because of my Neurofibromatosis Type 1. NF has kept me away from school due to all of the appointments, meetings with specialist, 50+ MRIs, 14 months of chemo, and thousands of needles. NF is something that is very uncertain in my future. I don’t know if I’m going to end up partially, or fully blind before I graduate. I don’t know if I’m going to loose more motor function, I don’t know a lot of things. But what I do know is what I am passionate about, and that is teaching. My stepfather was my coach in high school for track, he taught all of the throwers and helped me earn my varsity letter my senior year. He is just one example of the few teachers I had that told me that I could do anything, despise my disability. With the weather clearer, I think I’ll grab my throwing shoes, my bag of gear, and head out to the ring. It’s what he would want me to do. Thank you, For your time and consideration.

I wasn’t paying attention when the doctors said “she has cancer” I mean, I was two and a half. Who would be paying attention to that when you have a stuffed bear with you? Growing up with Neurofibromatosis Type 1, a genetic condition that causes tumors to form on your brain, spinal cord, and nervous systems is devastating. NF affects so many parts of my life, like my balance, sight, hearing, fine and gross motor skills, my ability to learn, and pain. Lots and lots of pain. Being in a body that is covered in tumors takes so much from you, but what I didn’t realize was how much I have to give. After I was diagnosed we discovered the Children’s Tumor Foundation and fell in love. For the past 18 years I have been non stop fundraising and making my voice heard. Work in a nonprofit is difficult. We spend so much of our time yelling out, and sharing our voices. We create fundraisers like a 5k, bake sale, a walk around the neighborhood, or picking up dog poop in strangers yard to see if we can get someone to pay attention to what we are fighting for. As I’ve gotten older I’ve been more involved and more interested in becoming a leader in nonprofits. I don’t want to be in charge of a nonprofit for the publicity, I want to be in it for people to look up to. I want people to see someone who looks like them, I want them to see someone who is struggling day by day to get up out of bed and look at herself in a mirror knowing that she’s going to keep going, keep fighting every second of every day because there is no cure, there’s hardly any treatments, she’s in pain, she’s angry, she’s all of these feeling but you would never have guessed it because she has the biggest smile on her face, and the loudest voice in the room. As long as I am bodilyabled, I will keep fighting against NF. I will keep writing my letters to congress, I will make sure my voice is heard. NF has taken so much from me, but it hasn’t taken my voice. Using my voice, I’ve met so many people with NF I would’ve never met before, and have made a few lifelong friends that I can sit next to and laugh about the long doctor visits, or what we want to do next summer to raise money. I’ve chosen the Children’s Tumor foundation because all of their money goes directly to research. Research will help bring us a cure, so if someday, that cure comes I can finally take a deep breath, and give my voice a rest. Until I find the next thing to fight for, then that voice will come back out. Thank you for your time and consideration.

This is my friend Katie. Me and Katie met on a Disney College Program, we both work at the same place and she was even rooming with another one of my friends! Me snd Katie would talk a lot, at work, in the parks, in the car, and more. However, after taking for a little while I realized how different our belief systems are, and I did not like that one bit. I have had pretty bad experiences with people who are in a Christian religion. One of the first times I saw Katie outside of work she was wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Jesus Loves You’ i automatically assumed that Katie would be like every other catholic that I had met and we weren’t going to get along, but it was quite the opposite. Me and Katie disagree on so many different things, I thought we would have nothing in common. All of my assumptions changed about her when I notice that she was wearing a hearing aid apparently Katie has struggled with hearing a good chunk of her life in one of her ears, and that has led her to needing to wear a hearing aid permanently. That’s when we found something in common. Katie was deaf in one ear, And I was struggling with hearing slowly due to a medical condition. Talking Katie helped made me realize that I need to let go of the basis that I have. Just because of the few bad encounters I’ve had with people of the same religion doesn’t mean that they will all be bad. It now allows me to sit down and be able to have nice conversations with people instead of dreading for when it will be over. So Katie, if you ever stumble across this essay, thank you. Thank you for helping me open my eyes, and create ad open mind and remember what my duties are as a human, to be kind and stay positive no matter what. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. "I certify that I personally conducted the live interview described in my essay, and confirm that the submitted photograph is an authentic, unedited image of me and the actual person I interviewed. I have read and agree to the Official Contest Rules. I certify this essay is my original, unpublished work, and it was not generated using Artificial Intelligence."

1: I found them through one of my friends who loves a ton of other Kpop artist like stray kids. 2: I think the most important characteristic is kindness. I feel like all MOA’s need to be kind. Everyone is going to have a different taste in music, and just because someone doesn’t like your favorite song, or thinks this alumb is better doesn’t mean anything. They just like that song and if you are going to mean to fellow MOA’s then you are really focusing on things that aren’t a real problem. 3: Not really no. 4: N/A 5: Bed of Thorns for the background music. It’s very nice to run to! 6: I have not. 7: How am I supposed to choose? 8: I am currently paying through school with some saved up money. I am also paying with a scholarship I have recent received which was $1,000. I start started a new full time job to balance with my current full time schooling, as well as being an honors student to help pay for the cost of my tuition. 9: this will help me pay for my degree. I’m pursing special education which is a long degree that most people, and most educations don’t want to do because it’s “too difficult” but I strive to believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to learn. 10: TXT has influenced me to always expand my horizons. Kpop isn’t something that I typically listen to, and by giving it a chance it shows me that I don’t mind Kpop, and because of that it has allowed me to expand to other artist and bands (like stray kids) and listen to their music. There is so much music in the world and I would love to listen to as much as I can in my lifetime so im constantly opening up new doors for myself. 11: I will use my education from school to help others learn. Being a special education teacher is difficult. There are so many different challenges that you face from normal education teachers. It’s also the career path knowing that you’re going into a career that doesn’t pay well, people underestimate you all the time, and more. People don’t realize that the reason we have all succeeded in ANYTHING is because of educators. Teachers shape the world. Another way I will use my education for good is my minor. I am currently working at declaring a minor in American Sign Language because I believe that ASL is such a beautiful language and has so many benefits. ASL is a good way that you can talk to a student 1-1 real quickly without drawing the entire class’s attention on them. ASL also has so much cultural diversity and value. Every deaf person that I have had the chance to sign with is nothing but sweet. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing community wants people to know and understand their language. I want to be good. I want people to see me in the hallways and go “she’s the nice kid” I want people to say that I’m crazy because I give up so much of my free time to volunteer and give back to my community. I may not have a lot, but there are people that have less than me and I will always and forever give back in anyway that I can. The picture I have selected is one of my favorites because it’s genuine inkigayo mc yeonjun has a genuine smile, and that’s all that matters. Thank you for your time and consideration.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” -Albert Einstein;one of the smartest people to ever live -who also had dyslexia. Special Education is difficult. Seeing it from the eyes of an educator, you may call it “out of hand,” “wild,” or “problematic.” There are also so many positives, smaller class sizes, more flexibility, 1-1 time, and more. However, what is it like from the students point of view? Walking down the hallway in school and students snicker, grabbing your test to take it in the learning center and eyes follow you, groans when you ask the teacher if they can slow down, so much pressure from those around you just because you learn differently? But you're not “stupid enough for that room”. What do they mean by that? Those kids aren’t stupid, they just learn differently, like yourself. You sit and kick your feet wondering if your ever going to graduate high school with that low GPA, but then next thing you know you transfer to your dream university fresh out of high school, with 50 college credits under your belt, and you’ve just been offered a spot in the honors college. Anyone reading that would assume it was from a “normal” student, right? But it was from a student who was in special education. Since I was in first grade I wanted to be a teacher. I picked my dream university in fifth grade, and started doing internships as a junior in high school. School was something that I struggled with a lot. I was born with a rare neurological condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF). NF has many side effects: poor vision, low self esteem, trouble with balance, low fine/gross motor skills, learning disabilities, and more. Aside from being in and out of the hospital during my education, I struggled. I had an IEP and 504 plan to help me thrive. As someone who wanted to already be a teacher, it wasn’t until high school when I started to consider special education as a career path. Being a student who needed to learn differently, it was hard. I believe that all students have the opportunity to learn, and that they can learn. Students are like zebras. They are similar, but all of them are slightly different. Each one of them will have their own way to learn. And as an educator it is my job to figure out what helps them learn, and give them the accommodations to do so. Like I said before, every student can learn. The way to bring them to their own since of presence is as simple as to listen. Everyone has a story to tell, and they’ll tell it well. I believe one of the ways to help students find this is through stories. Stories are filled with so much imagination and it makes your brain work. Imagination is a hard skill to master, it’s rare to find people today that still know how to imagine. In highschool, I read a book by Bloom called “How to Read and Why” and he talks about writing in the book, not only the purpose of writing, but ways to express yourself through creative writing, poetry and more. “The great poems, plays, novels, stories teach us how to go on living, even when submerged under forty fathoms of bother and distress” (Bloom.) When I become a special education teacher, I plan to read my students the book that made me fall in love with reading, and the book that made me realize as a special education student that I matter. “Because the easiest way to turn the impossible into possible, is to rip of that “Im” and then BOOM. It’s now possible.” - Fish in a Tree. By Linda Mully Hunt ***** Lean to catch letters. A short story by Isobelle Mick. In the far kingdom of Opus, lived one of the sweetest princesses the land had ever seen, Princess Isobelle. Yes her name has an O, it wasn’t a penmanship mistake by her mother, her mother just didn’t want the princess to spend her coins on silly treasures the wandering trader would bring though that was engraved with names, because ‘Isobelle’ would never be on one. Isobelle was different from some of the other princesses that would visit, some liked to say she was like that “Belle” for her nose was also always stuck in a book. Princess Isobelle would always try to get the other royals to read with her, but they believed they were too high up for that literature nonsense and would rather gossip. Isobelle decided it wasn’t worth her while to hang around people that didn’t have nice things to say, so she would often travel to the near village and read to the children. “And they all lived happily ever after” Isobelle closed the book. “Now, any questions my friends?” Many small hands shot in the air, one boy very eager. “Yes Harold?” The young lad rose to his feet, dusted off his gravel covered legs and peeked “How do you know to turn the page! I’m so scared the words won’t be there when I turn the page, what if they fly off!” Some of the other kids snickered “words don’t fly off the page Harold” some girl spoke. “Now,” Isobelle started “That wasn’t very nice,” she set the book down in her lap. “Maybe the words don’t fly off the page for you, but they could for others.” Harold’s embarrassed faced relaxed “The words fly for you too Princess?” “Oh yes they do,” Isobelle replied “Reading is a challenge, it’s hard when the words move and wiggle” *she laughed while standing up in a fun dance “But it’s okay, because we can learn to catch the letters. I can let the book open, some of the words and letters might escape so would you help me catch them and put them back in the book?” Sounds of agreement came from the children, Harold reached into is pocked and pulled out a small index like card and showed it to the crowd. “This is my reading tint! When I put it on my book my grandfather gives me it turns the pages blue and it’s easier to read then on that black and white parchment!” Sounds of ‘oooo’ and ‘ahhh’ fill the small area. “Does anyone else know a way we could catch words” Isobelle asked. A tall girl stood up, “Sound them out!” She stood with her hands pressed to her hips. “If I say the words out loud it makes more sense to me, and then I can go back and say it in my head.” “Very good Helen.” Isobelle cheered. The kids started yelling out the ways that helped them read at home “I read with my aunt!” “I play with a stress ball so I can keep my brain on the page!” “I read to my teddy bear” “I chew gum.” The ideas kept coming and coming. Isobelle looked down at the children “I believe we are ready to catch the words then right? See, I told you everyone reads a little differently. But we all can do it, right?” The children cheer in agreement. Isobelle laughs as she pulls out another book from her satchel, “How about we take turns with this one.” And they read, book after book together. When the sun started to set she gave each of the children a small notebook and a few pens so they could each write their own book to share the next time they came together. As Isobelle climbed the steps up to her room, she took one last glance down at the village, thrilled that she helped create the next generation of readers, something the village hadn’t seen in years. And she knew, they would grow strong and share their skills with their own children, spreading nothing but the kindness and joys of reading, so that everyone in her village would be able to share a story. The End. Thank you for your time and consideration in this scholarship, and don’t forget that you can always turn the impossible to the possible.

I would like to build more awareness for Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Neurofibromatosis or NF is a neurological condition that causes tumors to grow on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. NF also has many side effects like: low self esteem, anxiety, depression, learning difficulties, poor balance, poor eyesight, and low gross/fine motor skills. NF has been a challenge for me. I was diagnosed just before I turned 3, and started chemotherapy the day before my third birthday for treatment for my optic glioma pathway. I want to keep informing others about Neurofibromatosis to help bring awareness to the condition. I’m currently fundraising for it through the Children’s Tumor Foundation shine a light walk in Michigan. Every chance that I get I speak up. I’m working on things like bake sales where I can donate my proceeds to the children’s tumor foundation, all while staying active in school. I recently was offered a spot in my university’s honors college and have many plans on talking with my guidance counselor, academic honors advisor, and peers about what we can do to help continue to spread awareness for NF. NF has no cure. But I am determined to keep speaking up, continue fighting, and do everything that is in my power and more to make sure that my, and others with this condition voices are heard. I believe that this will make a positive impact for me because I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone, public speaking has been a challenge in the past when I’m not on stage acting, but through recent scholarship panels, and local pageants I have gotten better and have more trust in myself. The only way to get better is to practice. I believe that this will make an impact on my community because it shows that someone who is young is determined to make her voice heard. She is talking about thinks most people don’t understand, and making people realize that even though this condition is visible, there are so many invisible side effects that you wouldn’t know unless you let that voice be heard. Thank you for your time and consideration, and as always #EndNF

Every day I get up and look in the mirror and do my best to smile. I try to think of the things that I love about myself, but like most people, the things that I love about myself are outshined by the things I’m disgusted with. I stare at the droop in my eye, the destroyed bone on the side of my face, the way my body is covered in spots, the way my spine is curved, the way my legs are swollen, and the way my smile is a little crooked. I stare at all of these insecurities and know it’s because of my Neurofibromatosis, but at the same time my mind tells me it isn’t. I was suspected at birth of having a rare genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 1, but was put off about it because why on earth would I have something like that? Well, the day before my 3rd birthday I was getting a port placed for chemotherapy to attack an optic glioma pathway, that was caused by none other that Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Neurofibromatosis, or NF is a rare neurological condition that causes tumors to form on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous systems. NF has so many side affects like poor vision, balance, learning difficulties, scoliosis, anxiety, and low self esteem. I wouldn’t never guessed my mental health would be affected by my NF but here I am. I have struggled with mental health my whole life. I always asked my mom why I looked different than my classmates, why I never saw anyone like me on TV, or why none of my dolls had spots like me. To be honest, I felt disgusted with myself. I hated the way that I looked, I hated that I had this condition that limited me in so many different ways and made everything, from walking to just breathing and existing difficult. On top of all of that, the mental trauma from undergoing chemotherapy, 50+ MRIs, endless needles, pokes, prides, and test, hundreds of miles travled to talk to all different doctors, having so many people not understand took a big part of me. Nobody really knew what to do with me. I am now 20. I have had to change my healthcare over again, and switch to a brand new team of doctors crossing my fingers that something new happen. I think about the chance of loosing more vision which keeps my up at night tossing and turning. But what I’ve now realized, there’s nothing I can do to help change it. And I’m starting to come with the conclusion that it’s okay. My mental health still sucks. The way I look at myself still isn’t healthy, my anxiety with all of my medical issues doesn’t help, and the recent loss of my stepfather also doesn’t help. But what does help is continuing to do the things that I love. Even when they are hard, or no one believes that you should or could do them. I find that my mental health is the best when I’m outside in nature. I find myself slowly hiking through the woods, breathing in the cool air that smells like trees and flowers, and just take my time. I remember to always be nice, because you never know what the person sitting next to you is feeling or going though. I’ve sat next to so many strangers the past few weeks, or grabbed a coffee from a barista, and not one of them knows anything that I am going through. They don’t know about this cancer, or that I’m griefing the loss of my stepfather, but they have all done something that has helped. Smile. A small smile, wave, or “have a good day” really changes things around for me. That small act of kindness that I get from others is what reminds me to be kind to myself. So stay kind to yourself. Even when the whole world feels like it’s ending, Even when you hate your smile, Some stranger who you don’t even know will see that smile, And it will brighten their whole day. :)

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein. A person who society as deemed to be one of, if not, the smartest man to ever live. And get this, he was dyslexic. One of the biggest things that I noticed in school was how students would look at you when you told them that you were in the "special math class" You would be happy, and be thrilled because in this math class you are finally getting A's and B's for the first time ever, and then someone says to you "You realize that's the dumb math right? The class for the dumb kids?" Then you just stand there, because why is it a "dumb kid class" if you are passing it with flying colors? Why are these the same kids that snicker when they see some of the kids who are in the schools thrive room walk down the hall? Why are they judging you, and others, just because you learn differently? My mom always told me its because they don't understand that everyone has different strengths. In my school, we called the the classroom that held the special education students 'The Thrive Room". And I loved being in there from time to time. In middle school, I would go into the classroom for one period and just help around. It was fun, we would work on homework from other classes, I would help teach some of the kiddos how to cook, and we would play card games. To me, it was like being in a more engaging classroom, and I enjoyed it. I would talk to the teacher often and he would tell me that he never saw himself as a special education teacher, but then realized he had more freedom working in that room then a standard education classroom, he got to teach the kids regular structured classroom learning, but also life skills. On the last day of middle school, he told me that he was proud of me, and to consider special education as my career, or even as a specialty. Being a student, who was considered special ed was a struggle. I hated that I learned different from the "normal kids" and consistently asked my guidance counselor and my parents to switch me back to standard ed, which they all told me no. I was reminded that everyone learns differently, and we found a way thats making my learning successful, and to not take something away thats allowing you to succeed. Thats when I realized that it was okay, and that I wanted to work in special ed. I never had any teachers with disabilities, or teachers that struggled in school. Being a student with nurmous disabilities and learning disabilities, makes me believe that I am a strong educator. Being able to tell students "I get it" and tell them the whispers in the hallway suck, but you know what? Its okay, because you are getting the tools you need to be successful. I've always wanted to be helpful, help guide and change the world, and by doing something that I love, being a teacher, will help me make that change. And I want to teach the students that everyone says "can't learn" because I was told that. Told I couldn't learn, but I learned, I even learned to love learning. And I want all kids, to have the opportunity to learn, develop themselves, and figure out the tools they need to succeed.

One word can destroy your whole life in a matter of seconds. “Cancer” Most people would be scared of cancer, would be scared of the word oncologist, and be scared of the word death. I am not scared of those things. Not anymore. I figured after my diagnosis of Neurofibromatosis Type 1; a rare neurological disorder that causes numerous tumors to grow on the brain, spina cord, and nervous system, that my deal and my time with cancer would be over. Yeah, I had to go through 14 months of chemotherapy for an uncurable disease, go through 50+ MRIs (and counting), spend half of my time in the waiting room at a doctors office, and spend hours researching, advocating, and fighting Neurofibromatosis, but I figured every time me and my family heard cancer it was for me. What I didn’t expect was to be standing backstage, while working for Walt Disney World when my mom would call me 30 minutes before my shift started that my stepdad had stage four pancreatic cancer. I did not go on that shift. In late September, my stepfather was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and I was halfway across the country on an internship. I constantly called, face timed, sent silly reels, and more to my stepdad, hearing his voice quickly decline. It was odd. I had just seen him in July, and we walked around eating dolewhip, and laughing, and suddenly it’s October 12th and my mom called me saying I needed to go home at 11pm. October 13th at 5 am I was on a plane back to my small hometown in Michigan. I sat by his deathbed, seeing the man who would make me Mac and cheese after a long robotics practice, the man who would beg to sit front row at my theater performances, the man with the biggest smile on his face as I was crowned in a pageant, the man who wore a silly blue wristband on his wrist the day he met me to show his support for Neurofibromatosis, was so unrecognizable. October 20th he was no longer in any pain, and could finally rest. 47 Days is too short to squeeze in the thousands of memories, laughs, and promises that should’ve happened. One of the last things he ever said to me was to EndNF, and find a cure. He wants me to get the cure he’ll never get to see, But I want him to get the cure he should’ve got. I know cancer sucks, I have known that for ages, but what I didn’t know, and what I have learned is that you need to keep going. Keep going, and you fight. You fight, and advocate, you make your voice heard so when that day comes- the day with that cure, all of your fighting, can be done.

Instead of prepping for a party the day before my third birthday, I was in the hospital getting a port placed bright and early, ready to start chemotherapy treatment the very next day. I was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Neurofibromatosis, or NF, is a condition where tumors grow in and around the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. There are many side effects to this disease, such as: vision and hearing loss, low gross motor skills, lack of balance and coordination, learning disabilities, physical changes in the body like tumors and birthmarks, and extreme pain. NF has completely changed my life and how I view things in the world. I have many tumors in my brain, with one of the most challenging ones being on my left optic nerve. This tumor has impacted my vision as well as my physical appearance, with a sunken eye, lazy eye, and a disfigurement on the side of my face. Growing up, I hated my appearance and disfigurement, and would often try to hide them behind my hair. It was hard growing up because I rarely met people, even kids my age, with NF. I felt lonely and isolated most of the time because I couldn’t find people to talk to who would understand what I was going through. When I got older, I became more active in research for NF and started writing essays and scholarships about it in school. I was trying to raise awareness of NF in my small high school, as well as starting to reach out online and connect with teenagers who also had it. For once, I felt normal, seeing more people with NF, and enjoying their lives to the fullest, despite being covered in tumors. Recently, I have been actively talking about NF on my social media accounts and in school, spreading awareness not just about NF, but all types of cancers and brain cancers. I want people to know that they can treat us just the same as before they knew there were tumors in our brains, and that we are just as capable of doing great things. We may just take a little longer or use a different path. I've also started my journey towards becoming a teacher. Teaching is something I have always had a passion for, thanks to my teachers. I had growing up helped me thrive and work around my learning style and absence from class when I needed to take a trip up to the hospital for appointments, surgery, and MRIs. To me, being a teacher means that I can help people. I want to help students in school who are struggling due to learning disabilities, just like I did when I was their age. I want them to know that it's okay to struggle, and I am there to help them. I also want to actively talk about my diagnosis to my students, so they know about my disfigurements, spots, and possible future neurofibromas that grow on my skin. I feel like if they are more educated on brain cancer, if they have a family member, friend, or peer who gets diagnosed, the shock may be easier to handle because they already know a few small things. This scholarship will help me finish school debt-free, so I don't need to worry about more bills after finishing my degree, and I can just be a crazy, fun, happy teacher who is always looking on the bright side, despite having a few tumors in her brain.

One of my best friends has been struggling with kidney disease his entire life, and his journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride filled with challenges and resilience. Throughout the years, he has undergone many different types of transplants, surgeries, and a seemingly endless array of medications, each step taking a toll on his physical and emotional well-being. During our high school years, he faced a handful of depressive episodes directly linked to his kidney disease. The reality of being on immunosuppressants for the rest of his life weighed heavily on him, and the thought of needing a kidney transplant every few years only added to his anxiety. As someone who also struggles with several chronic health conditions, I could relate to his struggles. This shared experience allowed us to connect on a deeper level, and he reached out to me as a friend who understands the complexities and burdens that come with living with a chronic illness. Through our health struggles, our friendship grew stronger with each passing day. We spent countless hours together, hanging out, working on robotics projects, and going for late-night drives with the music blasting in his car. These moments became a time to let worries slip away. However, there were many times when he faced hospital scares, finding himself in the care of clinics and ICUs in towns far away. Each time, I was consumed by fear and uncertainty, worried about his well-being and whether I would ever see him again. Thankfully, every scare so far has ended with him returning home, and I am always immensely relieved when he makes it back. Yet, there remains a lingering knot in my stomach, a fear of what might happen one day if he doesn't come home. My friendship with him has profoundly influenced my perspective on life and in health. It prompted me to make a decision that I believe is one of the best things I can do: to become an organ donor. Organ donation has already saved his life, and it has the potential to save many more lives in the future. I take comfort in knowing that by becoming an organ donor, I may help others like my friend in their time of need. Through this experience, I have come to understand that many people are unaware of kidney disease, including its symptoms, complications, and various types. It is crucial to do thorough research, visit healthcare professionals regularly, and engage in conversations about health with friends and family. The more proactive we are in seeking medical attention and educating ourselves, the better equipped we are to identify potential issues early on, ultimately saving more lives. As a student with a chronic condition, I am more likely to find myself in the hospital visiting my oncologist, but I recognize that not everyone has the same experience. My friend has changed the way I view not only him but also others and the world around me. He is truly one of the best people I have ever met, and I am continually inspired by his strength and determination. I know that his kidney disease will not hinder him from achieving incredible things, and he remains a powerful motivator for me to keep my own health in check. I hope that together, we can raise awareness and help others in similar situations.

One of my favorite things to do in the game was to immerse myself in a calm and easygoing environment, where I could move at my own pace without any pressing tasks to complete. While other players ventured out to gather resources to confront the Nether, the End, and the Warden (impossible!), I preferred to keep things simple. I enjoyed exploring the villages and taming all of their cats. In creative mode, I loved building theme parks where my friends and I could spend hours having fun. I would place cats throughout the park to help protect it from creepers, ensuring that they wouldn’t destroy my creations. I even named the cats after some of my favorites who have since passed away. Out of all the cat skins, the tuxedo cat is my favorite because it resembles one of my beloved pets, Mikkie. My cat has played a crucial role in helping me manage my anxiety and has made my school experience so much better. She spends almost all her time in my bedroom and has become one of the best emotional support cats I could ask for. With enough resources, I hope to apply to a four-year university and bring her along as my partner in crime. I’ve often wondered if I could find other cat lovers on campus to play Minecraft with, so we can raid all the villages for their cats together!

I was 10 years old when my mom took me to see one of my first musicals, and that was RENT. From then on I fell in love with the soundtrack, and adored the character of ‘Maureen.’ I later realized that Elsa sounded a lot like her, and then my mother introduced me into another musical right before the pandemic, “Wicked.” I listened to the entire soundtrack in one sitting and was in complete shock. The amount of belting power that Idina had completely shocked me, and the story behind the wicked witch of the west- she had a name. I begged my mom to let me see wicked live, but it wasn’t anywhere near us. In the winter of 2021, I applied for a Make-A-Wish again, this time I was once again denied from a wish for “not being sick enough” my wish was to go to New York City and spend a week on Broadway seeing all of the shows, like Beetlejuice, Hamilton, Music Man, and of course, Wicked. That Christmas I was surprised with tickets to see wicked from my mom. That was probably my favorite show that I saw in NYC. I was just blown away with the music, lighting, and costumes. My mom’s first Broadway show was wicked, and wicked was my first Broadway show. I hope that in the future if I ever have kids I can take them to NYC to see wicked live on Broadway. I’m so excited for the movie coming out, and I hope that everyone who has never had the opportunity to see wicked live in stage, can have this moment in the theaters this Thanksgiving. Just remember one thing before going to see it in theaters: Pink goes good with Green :)

When I was just a few months old, I was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1), a condition that causes tumors to grow on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. NF1 can also have unpleasant side effects like vision loss, hearing loss, trouble with balance, learning disabilities, headaches, and exterme pain. I have a handful of brain tumors, the worst one being on my optic nerve, causing a disfigurment in the side of my face, the eyelid being very relaxed, and the eyeball itself shuken into the back of my head. I started chemotherapy treatment the day before my third birthday to try to manage the tumors. Turns out, I was allergic to one of the ingredients in the chemotherapy that they were using, so I ended up ending treatment after 14 months, and I was deemed "stable" enough.  Due to this condition, I missed a ton of school throughout elementary and up in high school. I was and still am constantly in and out of doctor offices, counting the number of MRIs that I have had, which is well over 50 at this point, and fighting with the hospital for not scheduling me now that I have officially reached the age of 18 and am in the middle of transferring to an out-of-state hospital in Clevland, Ohio, where the best NF1 treatment center in the United States is for my future appointments.  Due to all this drama and being in and out of schools, I stugled so much. I developed two different learning disabilities, dyslexia and discalula. which made reading, writing, talking, math, problem solving, and solving problems in my head extremely difficult. Thankfully, I have had the most amazing sets of teachers that helped me through school. I was given an IEP plan and a 504 that I was able to access to help me thrive in my classes. Because of what my teachers did for me and the experiences I had as a student, that all heavlily persuaded me to go into the field of education as my career. Being a teacher means a lot to me. Being someone who has been in the shoes of "the sick kid" or "the stupid kid" can help kids realize that its normal to struggle with learning. I want to create a safe and welcoming environment. During one of my student teaching periods in my junior year of high school, I was reading with a third grade student on K level books. They were struggling so much, they put their heads down and said, "I'm done. Reading beat me." I asked the student what was wrong, and they responded to me, "You're a teacher; you're great at reading; you don't get it." That's when I was able to smile and tell the student that I was in the same boat as them when I was their age. Their faces lit up with excitement, and they got excited that their teacher also struggled, and it was normal and okay! That right there made me see how something as small as that can make the biggest difference in a child's life. And to all of the children and teens fighting cancer, you got this. Never give up and keep fighting for research and a cure.  <3

"Blow out the candles. 'Happy birthday to me.' You've got your whole life ahead of you; you're only nineteen. But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me, and I'm sorry that I couldn't always be your teenage dream." Aside from the fact that I am not 19, this lyric hits me very hard.  When I was just a few months old, I was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Neurofibromatosis Type 1, which causes brain tumors to grow on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. It also can cause other symptoms like exterme pain and discomfort, learning disabilities, hearing loss, vision loss, poor balance, poor fine and gross motor skills, headaches, migraines, and more.  I started chemotherapy treatment the day before my 3rd birthday, spending that morning out of port placement surgery. On top of that, I had alongside about two other birthdays spent at doctor appointments or one of 50 MRIs that I have had in my life, or at other activities such as drama productions, robotics competitions, varisty bowling regonials, an Oliva Rodrigo concert (I couldn't go, I wish though), and more.  Neurofibromatosis also brought me a handful of different learning disabilities. I struggled so much in elementary, middle, and now, even high school. Some of my teachers'weren't the best with my accommodations, so I would just put my headphones in and listen to music to fade away into a perfect world of music.  On the other hand, constantly being busy on my birthday and often close friends always forgetting made me hate my birthday and always hope I would never have to celebrate it. The trauma from spending that much time and my birthday in the hospital has taken a toll on my mental health as a teenager. Having a rare disease without a cure often makes it stressful and often makes me feel helpless. Being 18 and going to be 19 in March of 2025 has me hopeful and ready. Im hoping that by the time of my 19th birthday I have felt better about myself and hopefully will enjoy a birthday where I can happily blow out my candles and live my last year as a teenager as a teenage dream that I never got to experience.  I agree with Liv when she wonders if she'll spend all of her time wondering and wishing that she could go back after all of these years. I wish I could tell my younger self that everything would be okay and that I would survive. To tell my doctors in advance about my problems so I can get diganosis quicker and heal better; however, instead of glooming over what could've been the past, I know my time would be much rather spent making a change for the future.  So I will keep fighting my neurofibromatosis, and I will get my teenage dream, just in a different unexpected way. My first step is going to a 4-year university so I can get a degree in what I love, teaching. So when students come to me struggling, I know I've already been in most of their shoes; I understand and will do my best to help them succeed. (And tell them to listen to Oliva, of course!)

At the end of the school year, when I was in kindergarten, we wrote autobiographies about our year in kindergarten, ending with what we wanted to be when we grew up, I selected teacher. Since then, almost every single teacher that I have had has been nothing but amazing and understanding towards me. They have kept my ideas of becoming an elementary teacher alive and thriving. Going through school was extremely difficult for me. I was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 which causes tumors to from on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. Some of the side effects of this disorder are troubles with balance, talking, writing, and learning disabilities. It already didn’t help I was in and out of the hospital getting chemotherapy and MRIs. However, I was always begging my mom to take me to school so I could be with my teachers. We discovered in kindergarten that I had been affected with multiple learning disabilities, the first one to show being a severe case of dislexia. I was given an IEP and occupational therapist through the school to help me with my spelling and fine motor skills. Throughout all of elementary school, every single one of my teachers made it a priority that my IEP was being fulfilled and I was understanding our assignments. This is when they discovered that I also had dyscalcula. I was put into special education for my math classes. I thrived and my math scores jumped through the roof, the school thought I had “grown out” of my dyscalcula, I failed math that year, and then they put me back in special education because it was what worked and they didn’t want to take it away again. My years of high school were the most challenging. Freshman year was the year of the pandemic so I had to learn through a computer screen not being able to attend in person school due to my health conditions and concerns. I had some of the best teachers that would stay after class time to talk with me and tutor me to make sure I wouldn’t fall behind. This really opened my eyes to see how much they all cared for their students. I also ended up joining three different sports throughout high school. I was a part of the marching band, bowling team, and track team. Going into my first bowling practice as a freshman was scary, all the other girls on the team were seniors and I knew nobody. I was incredibly shy and didn’t really talk to the senior girls, but my coach kept pushing me to talk to them and helped me work on my bowling skills, before I knew it, senior year I was captaining both the girls and boys team. For track and field, I was not very good at my sports. My Discus and Shot Put were always low, but my coach saw my determination. I went to all the extra and optional practices staying late or arriving early for extra throwing time. I learned how to be a leader through my sports, and I want to be the teacher my teachers were for me. I want all students who are struggling with learning disabilities or traumatic life experiences that impact their learning to have an ally. Learning is for everyone. I will forever and always follow this quote, “Everyone is a genius however, if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will spend the rest of its life believing that it’s stupid” -Albert Einstein.

Growing up as a disabled student who was in and out of the hospitals due to Neurofibromatosis Type One, I never enjoyed school. The subjects were always hard to follow, the teachers talked too fast, and most didn't understand why I said it was "painful to read". Having dyslexia made reading a challenge, however, I never gave up. I enjoyed reading, seeing the fantasies in the book made me so intrigued to keep reading the stories. I started my journey to high school freshman year on a computer and then transitioned into sophomore year with a brand new English teacher let's call Mrs. M. On the first day of class, she noticed and pointed out my nerdy theater t-shirt and said she enjoyed that musical and its soundtrack. She also had us write personal essays to let her know of anything about us we chose, at this point I had decided to tell her my dreams of becoming a teacher, and the fact that I have cancer. Throughout the rest of the year, she always stayed by my side and went above and beyond as a teacher. She fought for the proper accommodations on my IEPS and 504s, made sure I had every resource available to me, graced me with extensions when I was struggling, and invited me to sit down with her and go over a writing assignment before I turned it in for a final grade. She wanted to make sure that I understood the materials she was teaching because on a test I had a hard time proving I understood. She had made a note that I was probably dealing with some test anxiety. She could ask me in casual conversation about certain topics we were learning in class and I would answer them correctly in a heartbeat- however, on a test, I would just forget everything. As I finished sophomore year, she still invited me into her classroom to catch up and help with some other assignments for my dual enrollment. As I finished my senior year, she helped me with my college classes for early middle college. She edited my college papers and gave me feedback on how to improve. Mrs. M is even more of the reason why I need to be a teacher. Teachers have always made me feel better about myself, Throughout all of my struggles, even the ones that weren't my favorite still tried to help me. Going from the minds of someone who has, and still is struggling through school I understand that certain topics are confusing and you just need to find the tools in your toolbox to help you succeed. When I was student teaching, a student was able to gain more confidence to try to read because I told him I also struggled. It gives students the confidence to know that what they are going through is normal and that someone understands. I want these kids to know that they are in a classroom that is there to help them expand their toolboxes so they can be successful as they grow older. Finding the accommodations that work for them so they can be the very best that they can be.

If my year had a soundtrack it would be "Shake It Off" Taylor's Version. I always find myself being fearless. I've grown up with Taylor Swift since I was a kid. From 5th grade up until now my Senior year of high school I found myself constantly being bullied. One of the ways I would cope was with Taylor's music. The haters would always hate (hate hate) but I would just shake (shake shake) shake it off. It's gonna be alright I would tell myself. My school never did anything to help with the bullying. "Is It Over Now" was able to resemble my fight, Sometimes oh Lord, I think about jumping off of very tall somethings. I was in a bad place. But at least I had the decency to keep my nights out of sight. I hardly went to after-hour functions. I stayed in the clubs where I could be safe at last, and not worry about the bullies. My coping started to work. I knew they were trouble so I would sing along with her as I'd cry on a park bench, my teardrops ricocheted and fell on my guitar. I was able to find a place in this world where I felt seen, not invisible. I found peace with it all. Showing the admin that this is me trying wasn't working. I kept trying and gave up. I could run away into a world of music. I kept in mind for my bullies, that karma exists. I bet they think of me from time to time and are slowly realizing that their bullying is no longer affecting me. Looking on the bright side, a cruel summer will roll in and turn into New Year's Day. I know I will have a better time at college. I can connect to fellow swifties as we listen to her songs in our best dresses and cardigans. Call it what you want, but I say this is gorgeous. As next year rolls around, "Now That We Don't Talk" will fit perfectly. My mom said it's for the best. I can't be their friend, I'll pay the price of what I lost, which is my depression. I won't tell it to stay stay stay, but to jump in a getaway car, or a mega yacht and go away. We won't talk anymore and that's perfectly fine. So thank you, Taylor. Thank you for being my daylight and saving me. Without your music, I'm not sure what place I would be in. <3