Voting Is Now OPEN

"How has your journey with CF shaped the problems you want to solve and the impact you hope to have on others?"

When I was born, I was diagnosed after having a meconium ileus that ruptured and caused me to go into surgery at only a few hours old. That problem led to other problems such as a ventilator and multiple follow up surgeries to repair my ostomy. That set the mood for my life with Cystic Fibrosis. Since then, I've had to take a long list of required medications and treatments to keep my body working correctly. The medications also make it so I can attend and thrive in school. Living with CF is hard because of all the medications you have to take and all the hospital visits you have to make to stay healthy. There can be times where CF is very trying in a person's life, making it hard to stay optimistic. Cystic Fibrosis has helped me learn to persevere through hardships and prioritize my health. It has also helped me have a positive outlook on life. I plan to study Film and Media Production in college. Seeking a degree in Film and Media Production will allow me to use my platform to share my experiences, encourage others who are struggling, and bring awareness to Cystic Fibrosis. I can also use my platform to bring awareness to other chronic diseases. It can have a positive impact on my community because I can show how people can overcome circumstances, no matter how big the obstacles are. I want to bring people hope that they can make it out and be the positive that they may need. I want to solve the problem of loneliness in the CF community. It can feel lonely in and out of hospitals and it's easy to believe that it's only happening to you; but it's not. People all around the world struggling with CF all feel like they are fighting these battles alone because we never meet other people like us. The way to fix this problem is by bringing us all together. Hosting live events, TED Talks, or even just one-on-one conversations between CFer's. Those are just a few of the ways we can bring the community together. Using film media and broadcasting is the way to get the word out to everyone. Everyone in this world is on some type of media; so, if we put it out into those various platforms people will see it and maybe we could start something big. No one deserves to feel like they are alone, especially when they are at the lowest point in their life. We are not alone. We have each other. We just have to come together and communicate to one another.