When people look at me, they see a healthy, young girl who participates in athletics, but they don’t always know my full story. I was born with a Congenital Heart Defect, specifically an Atrioventricular Canal Defect. I was born with two holes in my heart and a missing valve. I've gone to countless doctor appointments after my initial surgery to make sure everything was ok. Throughout my life I've been on heavy duty heart medication that affects my circulation, including blood thinners. I’ve had five open heart surgeries, and one was to implant an Internal Cardiac Defibrillator in my chest, because on October 11th, 2017, I went into cardiac arrhythmia and then cardiac arrest. Nearing the end of swim practice, I fell unconscious and was immediately taken out of the water by my coach. My parents and 911 were immediately called, my mom remembers dropping the phone and running to the car after hearing "You're daughter's heart stopped, she's dying, you need to get here". My father remembers holding my mom and my siblings trying to be strong to ease their fear in the hospital room as I was in my Medically Induced Coma. My sister went to counseling for months, and still remembers sobbing in the middle of her college lecture because my mom had texted her what happened. My younger brother talks to me every day now because he's scared he'll loose me again. My family, friends, and I celebrate my "death-iversarry" every year by eating cookies decorated like skulls, and joke about it all the time because humor is the way we learned to get through the trauma. Since that time, I have had to learn how to overcome my fears. Fear of swimming again, fear of losing my friends from school, fear of being seen as the “hurt” girl, fear of not returning to my academic potential, and even the fear of just navigating the physical demands of the largest high school in Texas. One by one, these fears began to fade as I went through my high school years. As they did, they were replaced by a newfound confidence and joy for life. Going into my freshman year, the first major hurdle I encountered was trying out for the high school swim team. Things were different for me, compared to other swimmers, because I needed to have constant awareness of my cardiac state, which included the need to wear a heart-monitoring watch at all times. This level of health awareness was becoming a new normal for me, and something I was willing to accept in order to participate in the sport that I love. After making the team, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment that would help me get through my freshman year. Another problem I faced as I continued in school was relearning how to socialize with people and make friends. After my cardiac event in eighth grade, I had a lot of friends that stopped talking to me solely because I was the girl who had the heart issue. I figured out that the best way to handle this was to make it humorous. When it came up in a conversation, I would often crack a joke to help the tension dissipate, and show them that it was in the past and now I’m just a regular kid like them. I even brought my high school swim coach a skull-decorated cookie a year later to commemorate the anniversary of my “death.” Over time, this humor returned a sense of comfort to my friends and even some adults, allowing us to rebuild our relationships. Overcoming the ongoing challenges of my heart condition has brought an opportunity to enhance my leadership skills as well. I have since developed relationships with the nursing staff in the Pediatric Cardiology Center at Medical City Dallas, and they have invited me to become a counselor at their annual summer camp for children in their care. This is an opportunity that I am excited to welcome when the COVID pandemic passes and campers can return. In years past, I often bonded with the younger campers who were nervous or scared about their condition. As an older camper with a similar story, I was able to show them that they were not alone in their struggles, and they should be proud of what they have overcome. Even though this heart condition has made me break down and cry at times, it has taught me many lessons that I will need in life. It taught me determination, confidence, and how to be a leader for younger kids who are like me. Over the years it would have been easy to give up, to quit swimming, to say goodbye to my friends, but I never did, and I wouldn’t be who I am today if I had.