Thrive. My word of the year. Feeling discouraged, I chose the word ‘thrive’ as a goal for myself. For the majority of 2020, my body was doing the opposite of thriving. For months, doctors misdiagnosed my condition as they struggled to find a diagnosis. All we knew was that something was causing me to experience what physicians call “failure to thrive”. Failure to thrive is defined as a progressive decrease in weight over a short amount of time caused by malnutrition or underlying medical conditions. For unknown reasons, I had stopped developing, suddenly lost 10 pounds, felt chronically lethargic, suffered severe acid reflux symptoms, and was clinically depressed due to my deteriorating health. After rounds of negative test results, I began to wonder if we would ever figure out what was wrong. Then I got an email from my doctor saying they had missed a test. After the blood draw, I left the doctor’s office expecting it to be another negative result, but in January 2021, I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I’ve come to learn that celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that creates harmful reactions to gluten, creating intestinal damage, and causing my body to be at war with itself. Since gluten is in practically everything, you can only imagine what it took to completely cut it out of my diet. This new gluten-free lifestyle caused me to grieve the loss of my former life though the psychological impact of celiac disease was not the most difficult hardship I had to overcome. My body was also malnourished from years of unknowingly feeding myself food that was essentially poison to my intestines. Though I valued the support from my specialists, finding the right meals to aid in my recovery was often challenging and discouraging. As the initial sting of my diagnosis lessened, I slowly gained the courage to turn my negative emotions into a positive avenue for change. This led me to develop my own support group to spread awareness about celiac disease. I hoped in doing this that people wouldn’t have to feel defined by their diagnosis, as I first did. My celiac support organization, GrainsofTruth.org, reviews safe gluten-free meals at local restaurants, offers lifestyle tips, and provides a safe place for celiac patients, like myself. Recognition in the gluten-free community even led me to meet other students at school who have dietary restrictions similar to mine. Using the leadership skills I've learned as Yearbook Editor-in-Chief and Cheer Captain, I was even inspired to begin a club called the Safe Eats Club. This club creates a safe place for gluten-free eaters during the school day, empowering students in self-care. Although I still have ups and downs with my health, I am happy to again be thriving physically, socially, and academically in my journey towards recovery. With renewed passion, I plan to continue to advocate for the celiac community through digital media by expanding my celiac disease support organization, GrainsOfTruth.org, to include a website of resources, while also focusing on my future career as a creative marketing director for a large media organization. As I begin studying graphic design and marketing on a collegiate level, I hope to build upon my background and skills in photography, creative design, and leadership. During my four years at a university, I would like my primary focus to be on my academic achievements and my influence on the community, not my college debt or the impact of my health impairment. With the help of your support, I hope to achieve my goals as I continue to thrive in all areas of my life.

Thrive. My word of the year. Feeling discouraged, I chose the word ‘thrive’ as a goal for myself. I didn't know at the time, but the word thrive would mean everything to me just a few months later. For the majority of 2020, my body was doing the opposite of thriving. For months, doctors misdiagnosed my condition as they struggled to find a diagnosis. All we knew was that something was causing me to experience what physicians call “failure to thrive”. Failure to thrive is defined a progressive decrease in weight over a short amount of time caused by malnutrition or underlying medical conditions. For unknown reasons, I had stopped developing, suddenly lost 10 pounds, felt chronically lethargic, suffered severe acid reflux symptoms, and was clinically depressed due to my deteriorating health. After rounds of negative tests, I began to wonder if we would ever figure out what was wrong. Then I got an email from my doctor saying they had missed a test. After the blood draw, I left the doctor’s office expecting it to be another negative result, but in January 2021, I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I’ve come to learn that celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that creates harmful reactions to gluten, creating intestinal damage, and causing my body to be at war with itself. Since gluten is in practically everything, you can only imagine what it took to completely cut it out of my diet. This lifestyle change caused me to grieve the loss of some favorite foods though the psychological impacts of celiac disease were not the only hardships I had to overcome. My body was also severely malnourished from years of unknowingly feeding myself food that was essentially poison to my intestines. There was a steep learning curve to this new way of life, and finding the right meals to aid in my recovery was often challenging and discouraging. As the initial sting of my diagnosis lessened, I slowly gained the courage to turn my negative emotions into a positive avenue for change. This led me to begin developing my own social media platform to spread awareness about celiac disease. I hoped in doing this that people wouldn’t have to feel defined by their diagnosis as I first did. My Instagram page, grainsoftruth.org_gf, reviews safe gluten-free meals at local restaurants, offers lifestyle tips, and provides a safe place for celiac patients, like myself. So far, the site has helped me channel my negative emotions into a positive, creative outlet. Recognition of this gluten-free account even led me to meet other students at school who have dietary restrictions like myself. Using the leadership skills I've learned as Yearbook Editor-in-Chief and Cheer Captain, I was even inspired to begin a club at school called the Safe Eats Club. This club creates a safe place for gluten-free eaters during the school day, empowering students in self-care. As I look into the future, my ultimate goal is to build upon my background in photography, design, and leadership and become a creative marketing director for a large organization. Although I still have ups and downs with my health, I am happy to be thriving socially, academically, and spiritually again. My desire is to continue to thrive as I fulfill my dream of graduating from a private university in my home state of California and becoming a professional business woman.