I was born with a rare Primary Immune Deficiency called Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD). This rare disorder of the immune system affects only 1:500,000 children but my family was affected three times; the death of my two uncles as children and of course my diagnosis at birth. Fortunately, my prognosis was not as bleak as my uncles' due to breakthroughs in research and medication. Among other prophylactic drugs I would take daily to prevent infection, I also was a recipient of an injectable drug called Acctimmune; this drug, without a doubt kept me as healthy as possible (most of the time) However, my diagnosis would cause chronic and very severe infections that would lead me to a 2-3 week stay at the hospital on countless occasions. Because most of my hospital experiences were in childhood and adolescence, I grew to love and honor how hard the nursing staff worked to create a safe and comfortable environment for me and my family. I'll never forget one male nurse who would sit and play video games with me to keep me company while one of my parents was on their way back from work. The pediatric nursing team was amazing in every hospital I found myself at. More recently, I was able to get a bone marrow transplant in April of 2022. As you can imagine this is a difficult process for everyone involved. Over 4 months in the hospital, I became bonded with the nurses - they were caretakers for me and my family when we were scared, excited and just showed endless compassion. For a kid (now 20) who spent months on end as a patient in the hospital and once worried about how long I would live before the BIG one came and got me, pursuing a career in a hospital as an RN is my only desire. To give back to the children and families that share the experiences that I and my family went through feels like the only thing to do. Eventually, with my experience as an RN, I would aspire to work for the manufacturing company of Actimmune (Horizon) as a nurse educator. The drug is only approved for the use of two disorders and CGD is one of them. As a nurse educator for Actimmune, I would be able to work with families of children with the disease that almost took my life on multiple occasions. It would be an honor to give back in this way and provide the hope and experience that people need during times like that.

When my biological father passed away from a heroin overdose in 2018, it rocked my world. He was unable to be an active part of my and my sister's lives from a young age so I never really got to experience an ongoing relationship with him. As we got older, my sister and I were able to speak to him pretty regularly and our mom even brought us to see him one time in 2017. Thankfully she did because that would be the last time we would see him before we collected his belongings from the funeral home and moved on with our dad inside the confines of a small urn. Drug and alcohol addictions run deep in the veins of my family and I am determined to break this cycle of what tears families apart. My father never had the opportunity to attend college, let alone complete high school. He lived a life of petty thefts to get by and his one-time recreational drug use turned into what would be a fatal affair with heroin; ultimately taking his life and leaving us with so many questions. I have devoted myself to proving that even through adversities, I can and will achieve the goals and opportunities that my father was never given. I want to be his legacy and leave his name with a level of dignity - that he brought two children into this world that are going to do and are already doing amazing things. Dad didn't have much of a legacy to leave behind other than me and my sister. I hope for my academic success as being only the second individual (my sister the first) from his side of the family to complete college. My sister recently completed her MS in Psychology. She and I will be the only two from Dad's family that ever got the chance to pursue higher education. Having suffered lifelong from a Primary Immune Deficiency that two of my uncles passed away from, I have endured my own struggles. But nothing beats me down! I was able to receive a bone marrow transplant in April of 2022 and was told that I likely would not be able to attend school until at least a year later. I beat the odds! I registered for and started school in January of 2023 and plan to pursue my degree as a Registered Nurse so that I can provide children the amazing type of care that I received during all of my stays at the hospital (I spent a lot of time as a patient). The loss of my father to drug addiction was a tough pill to swallow but it has instilled in me a desire and commitment to making him proud because I know that if he were here with me he would want me to have better than he had and to do better than he did. And so I will! There is nothing that can stop me now!