As much as my disability affects me I have tried to never let it define me. I was born with one of the rarest forms of Spina Bifida because my cord was too long and I did not have a tail. It is called Myelocystocele Lipoma Spina Bifida, and in March of 2004 when I was born there were only about 1000 known cases. It’s made life both wonderful and difficult. When I was younger I completely resented my disability, and it made me self-conscious and insecure. I hated it, it made me so different and was one of the first things people would notice about me. I was excluded in school, and even from sports teams. When I was about five I dreamed of playing on a soccer team, but due to my Spina Bifida, no team would have me. I missed so much school for doctor's appointments and surgeries, when I came back I was behind and lost. The only thing that really connected me with my classmates in elementary school was my wheelchair. At the time I thought it was the greatest thing in the world. My wheelchair made me ‘popular,’ but looking back and now I see that all of the ‘friendships’ never extended past that. Like I was just a quick form of entertainment to them. The exclusion only got worse as I got older. Freshman and Sophomore year I was in gym classes where I was barely ever allowed to participate, instead, I had to write two sports article summaries for each class period. Lately, though I have found that my disability does not make me less like I believed it did. I have taken a large responsibility of finding how to increase inclusion in my high school. My unified partner who is also my best friend and I are currently the Co-Chairwomen for Unified Special Olympics Kansas Youth Activation Committee. Where we have translated what we’ve learned there and created our own organization fighting for inclusion called Operation Culture Change. We were also invited to speak at Special Olympics Kansas Capitol Hill Day. With all the challenges, struggles, recoveries from 40 plus surgeries, and unanswered questions that Spina bifida has offered me, I have learned to turn into something positive and grow from it. Today I am proud of my disability to an extent, I am still learning to love and fully embrace it. But most of all I am grateful for it. I have so many good memories, friendships, and experiences that have come from my disability and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Spina Bifida has taught me so much about being grateful and truly appreciating what life has to offer. Because of Spina Bifida, I live life every day trying to make a difference in someone's life and suck every last drop out of what life has to offer. This Scholarship will truly help me to do that, by giving me an opportunity to attend my dream school, Wichita State University. Due to current medical bills, my family is unable to offer a lot of assistance, and this scholarship would lift some of the burdens of tuition off my shoulders.

I was born with one of the rarest forms of Spina Bifida. A birth defect of the spine that affects the nerves and functions of many different body systems. At just 17 years old I have had 45 surgeries. Which has left me in a wheelchair multiple times. As well as that I walk with a large sway that gives away my disability instantly. Throughout life and school, I have constantly suffered from discrimination, stereotypes, misjudgments, and lack of accessibility, diversity, and equality. At my high school a few years before I start they implemented a Special Olympics Unified program. Through that program, the school became a Unified champion school with the components of, unified sports, whole-school engagement, and inclusive youth leadership. My unified partner and I were given the opportunity to join the Specail Olympics Unified Kansas's Youth Activation Committee (YAC), our junior year through unified. This year, we took our leadership role even further and became the Co-Chair women. Apart of YAC is helping to spread Unified programs to other schools in our area. When we were first given the task and the requirements to become a Unified Champion School we looked at it and saw items that our so-called Unified Champion School was not doing. So with this platform, we were given and my background, my partner and I along with another friend took on the challenge of changing that. We Created our organization Operation Culture Change (OCC), with the to goal promote, educate, and spread inclusion. My personal goal is to change the world, for the world to see the disabled community as equals to the abled community. By fighting for inclusion we are supporting a more equal and diverse world. I see myself as a lifelong champion for inclusion, equality, and diversity.

We all dream that one day we can change the world in some way or another. For me, I dream of making a more accessible and inclusive world for the disabled community. I was born with one of the rarest forms of Spina Bifida. A birth defect of the spine that affects the nerves and functions of many different body systems. At just 17 years old I have had 45 surgeries and counting. Which has left me in a wheelchair multiple times. As well as that I walk with a large sway that gives away my disability instantly. Throughout life and school, I have constantly suffered from discrimination, stereotypes, misjudgments, and lack of accessibility. At a young age, the treatment I faced caused me severe depression. It got so bad I suffered from suicidal thoughts before the age of twelve. In high school, I was given the opportunity to truly see that I was not the issue but how I was being treated, and I was given the tools to make a change. At my high school a few years before I start they implemented a Special Olympics Unified program. Through that program, the school became a Unified champion school with the components of, unified sports, whole-school engagement, and inclusive youth leadership. My unified partner and I are the inclusive youth leadership. We were given the opportunity to join the Specail Olympics Unified Kansas's Youth Activation Committee (YAC), our junior year. This year, we took our leadership role even further and became the Co-Chair women. Apart of YAC is helping to spread Unified programs to other schools in our area. When we were first given the task and the requirements to become a Unified Champion School we looked at it and saw items that our so-called Unified Champion School was not doing. So with this platform, we were given and my background, my partner and I along with another friend took on the challenge of changing that. We Created our organization Operation Culture Change (OCC), with the to goal promote, educate, and spread inclusion. We thought it would be easy the main focus was just our small high school, but we were immediately met with pushback. So we then expanded to our entire community, seeing as it was just as bad if not worst than our high school. We held a rally and were met with great success, and are currently working on another one for the summer. Our goal is an easy one but definitely a challenging one to execute. My personal goal is to change the world, for the world to see the disabled community as equals to the abled community. I may not be able to reach the entire world, but the world around will change and create ripples if I do it right. I see myself as a lifelong champion for inclusion. Fighting for a world that treats people with disabilities fairly and equally so no other little girl wants to take her own life because she’s little different.