It was a beautiful day in Philadelphia. Sesame Place, water slides, how could it get any better for a six year old? Running from attraction to attraction, I grew hungry. To me, it didn’t matter what you put in front of me, I was starving. My brother offered me a granola bar, I thought nothing of it. But something was off. I thought I had swallowed some water, or maybe I was just tired. As things were getting worse, I tried my best to keep it together. I was too afraid of ruining everyone’s time. I’m thinking all of this through and starting to panic when I begin to feel my throat closing. I couldn’t stop coughing and hives were taking over my skin. It was too much, I had to get my dad. As soon as he noticed, we left the park as fast as we could. My worst nightmare. We were leaving the amazing Sesame Place. After rushing to St. Mary Medical Center and a thorough examination, they believed it was something in the water. With this, I resumed life as normal. That was until about a year after the incident. We visited a family friend’s house and I saw a jar of peanut butter-filled pretzels sitting on the counter. Like any normal seven year old would, I grabbed a handful. Everything was fine, but fifteen minutes later and all the symptoms I experienced a year ago were coming back. Stomach pain, hives, fatigue and worst of all, my throat was closing again. Enough was enough. With this second scare, we needed to see an allergist. I was given a skin prick test and the results indicated that I was highly allergic to peanuts. Something no one in my family even considered. With this, I was told to carry an EpiPen everywhere I went. In the following years I took multiple blood tests only to find out that if I were to eat enough of the protein of a peanut, it could be life-threatening. Worst of all, there was little to no chance of this ever improving. Once people began to find out about my allergy, I was made fun of for being the kid at the peanut-free table, or the kid who couldn’t enjoy a PB&J after sports practice. I’ve been called all different types of names, such as peanut boy, and sometimes even have peanut M&M’s thrown at me. Once a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was thrown at my lunch tray while I was eating. All these distractions in school did not make my schoolwork any easier. The constant fear of having an allergic reaction due to an accident or to someone just wanting to turn me into a joke. Dealing with my peanut allergy for nearly 18 years has taught me the importance of proper diagnosis, treatment, and medication for people with various chronic conditions. I am aware of just how costly an accident can be and am compassionate with those living with long-term health conditions. It’s scary living every day in constant fear of having an accident lead to the end of my life. This fear and understanding of chronic conditions is why I am motivated to pursue a career in the medical field, more specifically in the field of pharmacy research. I want to help people like me that deal with chronic conditions, get access to the medication they need to prevent potentially life-threatening situations.