My favorite part of every birthday party was the cake. My snack time favorites in elementary school were Goldfish and Cheez-its. I savored the popcorn at every movie (with extra butter, of course) and devoured the cookies I made with my grandy, and if I ate just a tiny bit of the batter, everything would be fine as long as I didn’t tell my mom. Then, in third grade, I started having emergencies. I would rush to the bathroom just in time, and sometimes I didn’t make it. So I started seeing doctors, and then specialists. I had my first colonoscopy at nine years old. When my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease came in, I didn’t really know what it meant. I was more concerned that I wouldn’t be allowed to have my favorite foods than I was about my health. Finally, as my parents explained what could happen if I didn’t stick to my diet, I was scared. Every time I reached for the forbidden goldfish, the image of a colostomy bag popped into my mind, and I refrained. Learning that type of discipline at such a young age was difficult, but it is a necessary skill. Being chronically ill is so incredibly frustrating. As a member of many oppressed groups- biracial, bisexual, and a woman- working twice as hard as your average straight, cis, white man to get half the recognition was made even harder, given the fact that my body needs so much rest. To know that I have it better than some makes me incredibly grateful most of the time, but sometimes the thought that most people get to live normal lives, eat whatever they want, and stay up all night with no long-term consequences makes me want to scream into a pillow. But my chronic illness has taught me resilience. It has taught me that a single setback does not define the rest of my life. It has taught me how to take care of myself even when I don’t want to. It has shown me how strong I truly am. Because of my journey with chronic illness, I would love to become a pediatric specialist, and my education is the direct path to this destination. It's hard to understand what it's like to be a sick kid unless you were one yourself. I want to be the doctor that understands, and helps my patients and their family to understand their situation, rather than simply perscribing medicine with no explanation. I want to make it so that they don't have to hop from specialist to specialist looking for one that truly cares, because I do care, maybe more than any of my patients will ever really know. Chronic illness is something that no child should ever have to deal with. If I can make even one person's journey any easier, it will have been worth it. My education is the only way to make this dream come true. Though my Crohn’s disease has been a hindrance, I am truly grateful for all that it has taught me. I will carry these lessons with me in every aspect of my life, and, once I am a doctor, into the lives of others. And one day, I will thank myself for being resilient even when I didn’t want to, as that resilience will have led to a unique ability to help others.

My favorite part of every birthday party was the cake. My snack time favorites in elementary school were Goldfish and Cheez-its. I savored the popcorn at every movie (with extra butter, of course) and devoured the cookies I made with my grandy, and if I ate just a tiny bit of the batter, everything would be fine as long as I didn’t tell my mom. Then, in third grade, I started having emergencies. I would rush to the bathroom just in time, and sometimes I didn’t make it. So I started seeing doctors, and then specialists. I had my first colonoscopy at nine years old. When my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease came in, I didn’t really know what it meant. I was more concerned that I wouldn’t be allowed to have my favorite foods than I was about my health. Finally, as my parents explained what could happen if I didn’t stick to my diet, I was scared. Every time I reached for the forbidden goldfish, the image of a colostomy bag popped into my mind, and I refrained. Learning that type of discipline at such a young age was difficult, but it is a necessary skill. Being chronically ill is so incredibly frustrating. It’s hard to explain to your friends on an overnight school trip why you have to go to bed at ten p.m. because your body is always attacking itself so it’s exhausted more easily than theirs. It’s hard to watch your little brother recover from a stomach bug in one day, while the same bug puts you in the emergency room and takes you out of school for a week. But every cloud has its silver lining, and every hardship teaches a lesson. To know that I have it better than some makes me incredibly grateful most of the time, but sometimes the thought that most people get to live normal lives, eat whatever they want, and stay up all night with no long-term consequences makes me want to scream into a pillow. But my chronic illness has taught me resilience. It has taught me that a single setback does not define the rest of my life. It has taught me how to take care of myself even when I don’t want to. It has shown me how strong I truly am. Because of my journey with chronic illness, I would love to become a pediatric specialist. It's hard to understand what it's like to be a sick kid unless you were one yourself. I want to be the doctor that understands, and helps my patients and their family to understand their situation, rather than simply perscribing medicine with no explanation. I want to make it so that they don't have to hop from specialist to specialist looking for one that truly cares, because I do care, maybe more than any of my patients will ever really know. Chronic illness is something that no child should ever have to deal with. If I can make even one person's journey any easier, it will have been worth it. Though my Crohn’s disease has been a hindrance, I am truly grateful for all that it has taught me. I will carry these lessons with me in every aspect of my life, and, once I am a doctor, into the lives of others. And one day, when I can finally eat the birthday cake again, I will thank myself for being resilient even when I didn’t want to, as that resilience will have led to a unique ability to help others.

My favorite part of every birthday party was the cake. My snack time favorites in elementary school were Goldfish and Cheez-its. I savored the popcorn at every movie (with extra butter, of course) and devoured the cookies I made with my grandy, and if I ate just a tiny bit of the batter, everything would be fine as long as I didn’t tell my mom. Then, in third grade, I started having emergencies. I would rush to the bathroom just in time, and sometimes I didn’t make it. So I started seeing doctors, and then specialists. I had my first colonoscopy at nine years old. When my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease came in, I didn’t really know what it meant. I was more concerned that I wouldn’t be allowed to have my favorite foods than I was about my health. Finally, as my parents explained what could happen if I didn’t stick to my diet, I was scared. I wanted to eat the foods I couldn’t have, but every time I reached for the forbidden goldfish, the image of a colostomy bag popped into my mind, and I refrained. Learning that type of discipline at such a young age was difficult, but it is a necessary skill. Being chronically ill is so incredibly frustrating. It’s hard to explain to your friends on an overnight school trip why you have to go to bed at ten p.m. because your body is always attacking itself so it’s exhausted more easily than theirs. It’s hard to watch your little brother recover from a stomach bug in one day, while the same bug puts you in the emergency room and takes you out of school for a week. It’s hard to hear your doctors tell you that you might be in remission, but then the results of your most recent colonoscopy come back and you have to be put on a stricter diet. But every cloud has its silver lining, and every hardship teaches you a lesson. To know that I have it better than some makes me incredibly grateful most of the time, but sometimes the thought that most people get to live normal lives, eat whatever they want, and stay up all night with no long-term consequences makes me want to scream into a pillow. But all in all, my chronic illness has taught me resilience. It has taught me that a single setback does not define the rest of my life. It has taught me how to take care of myself even when I don’t want to. It has shown me how strong I truly am. Though my Crohn’s disease has been a hindrance, I am truly grateful for all that it has taught me. I will carry these lessons with me in every aspect of my life. And one day, when I can finally eat the birthday cake again, I will thank myself for being resilient even when I didn’t want to, as that resilience will have led to remission.

My favorite part of every birthday party was the cake. My snack time favorites in elementary school were Goldfish and Cheez-its. I savored the popcorn at every movie (with extra butter, of course) and devoured the cookies I made with my grandy, and if I ate just a tiny bit of the batter, everything would be fine as long as I didn’t tell my mom. Then, in third grade, I started having emergencies. I would rush to the bathroom just in time, and sometimes I didn’t make it. So I started seeing doctors, and then specialists. I had my first colonoscopy at nine years old. When my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease came in, I didn’t really know what it meant. I was more concerned that I wouldn’t be allowed to have my favorite foods than I was about my health. Finally, as my parents explained what could happen if I didn’t stick to my diet, I was scared. I wanted to eat the foods I couldn’t have, but every time I reached for the forbidden Cheez-its, the image of a colostomy bag popped into my mind, and I refrained. Learning that type of discipline at such a young age was difficult, but it is a necessary skill. Being chronically ill is so incredibly frustrating. It’s hard to explain to your friends on an overnight school trip why you have to go to bed at ten p.m. because your body is always attacking itself so it’s exhausted more easily than theirs. It’s hard to watch your little brother recover from a stomach bug in one day, while the same bug puts you in the emergency room and takes you out of school for a week. It’s hard to hear your doctors tell you that you might be in remission, but then the results of your most recent colonoscopy come back and you have to be put on a stricter diet. But every cloud has its silver lining, and every hardship teaches you a lesson. To know that I have it better than some makes me incredibly grateful most of the time, but sometimes the thought that most people get to live normal lives, eat whatever they want, and stay up all night with no long-term consequences makes me want to scream into a pillow. But all in all, my chronic illness has taught me resilience. It has taught me that a single setback does not define the rest of my life. It has taught me how to take care of myself even when I don’t want to. It has shown me how strong I truly am. Though my Crohn’s disease has been a hindrance, I am truly grateful for all that it has taught me. I will carry these lessons with me in every aspect of my life. And one day, when I can finally eat the birthday cake again, I will thank myself for being resilient even when I didn’t want to, as that resilience will have led to remission.