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"Consider the positive influence you aspire to have as someone living with cystic fibrosis. How do you hope to inspire and empower future generations of young adults with chronic illnesses?"

In many ways, cystic fibrosis (CF) has brought me a sense of purpose in not letting my limitations define me. By all accounts, as a freshman on the Bates College varsity swim team today, I don't look like someone struggling with limitations from chronic illness. I am just a teammate who happens to have CF. That said, my experience with CF has taught me that thriving as a college swimmer is not something I can take for granted, but a choice to be made every day. Setbacks still happen, and finding the motivation to push through them is everything. Like anyone, I grew up wanting to be defined by what I do, not by "illness". I spent years in the pool pushing myself to keep up or get better than those without CF. Just like anyone else, I pushed myself hard to compete. But as someone living with CF, pushing myself looks different from what it does for other swimmers. For me, it means regular breathing treatments, counting pills, tracking data, and measuring insulin injections on top of the daily swim training. It also means pushing my lungs harder than everyone else during breath-holding sets or no-breathers. That push has paid off - not only in my health outcomes, but also in my swim performance. And my performance got me recruited to swim in college. While I didn't try to hide my CF when I started swimming at Bates, I was reluctant to share because I knew it would introduce barriers to what others believed I could accomplish. I don't see myself as "limited" and didn't want others to see me as inferior because of my CF. So I started my first collegiate swim season with something to prove. While I worked hard to keep up my health, I knew I was at greater risk of getting sick. Sure enough, I faced a setback when I got the flu. Just two weeks before the end of the season, my lungs were so backed up with mucus that I lost breathing capacity and suffered an abdominal separation from coughing so much. It became harder to swim. Still, I had my heart set on swimming in our conference championship and knew I had to earn my spot. I was determined to qualify. By the season's end, that determination paid off. Not only did I qualify for our conference championships, but I also swam anchor on our women's "A" relay team and posted a personal record in our final event. I think I demonstrated I deserved to be there and, even more so, shattered any barriers that others perceived for me. Although I am not necessarily aiming to be a role model, I do hope that my experience can play a part in motivating others who struggle with health limitations. While we cannot always control our outcomes, it is neither our outcomes nor our limitations that should define us. It is our grit and determination to be our best.