When I was in the fifth grade, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that not only affects my thyroid, but it also causes symptoms of brain fog, lethargy, and difficulty concentrating. These symptoms often make it hard to fully engage in my schoolwork and participate in different activities. Honestly, sometimes I wake up in the morning, and feel so sick I cannot function. There are days that I feel great in the mornings, but my symptoms take me for a ride. Ups and downs throughout the day can result in a lack of motivation or an inability to concentrate. I have missed a lot of school due to my condition and have stayed home from FFA trips and missed BPA activities because I was not feeling well enough to accomplish the tasks required. Despite all the lack of energy that comes with Hashimoto’s, I have been able to work through it; I am serving as a chapter officer in FFA, am on track to be valedictorian, and just qualified for the National BPA Conference. In the seven plus years that I have had this chronic illness, I have learned to take advantage of my good days and recognize the early signs of a flare up. I have been able to identify learning and study habits that work for me, so that I can make myself comfortable with the materials that I missed and stay up on my schoolwork, even when missing weeks at a time. I do my best to work hard on my assignments at home, so that I do not fall behind. I have been able to stay in Honors and Dual Credit classes throughout all of high school, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while tutoring other students, being an active participant in BPA, NHS, FFA, and Tri-M Music Honors Society, and holding a part-time job at the local climbing gym. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis has not made life easy, but I am determined not to let my condition get in the way of my successes, if anything, it has shaped who I am today. Because of my chronic illness, I have had to work harder to accomplish the same things as my peers. I have to work harder to get up in the morning, or to finish school projects. I have had to work extremely hard to get to where I am in my life right now, and that has made me a very reliable, and determined individual. Because I have to push myself so hard to do the basic things on my rough days, I can push that much harder on my good days, whether it be doing manual labor working for a temping agency over the summer or completing a group project. Everyone around me knows that I will always give my best effort and push myself constantly to do better. I think my Hashimoto’s has also made me more compassionate towards others. Having a condition with invisible symptoms is hard, I am very often in pain and exhausted, I am never at one hundred percent. A lot of people in my life have no clue that I have a chronic illness. I always appreciate it when someone is caring toward me, even when they do not know what is going on, so I strive to do that to everyone I meet. I may have no clue what is going on behind the scenes, but that is all the more reason to be kind. Not all ailments and discomforts are visible, and my life with Hashimoto’s has really driven that in for me.