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

Living with cystic fibrosis has shaped not only how I navigate challenges, but also the kinds of problems I feel driven to solve. For much of my life, success was defined by physical outcomes: lung function, blood sugar levels, or performance in the pool. But over time, I began to notice a gap - while medical care addressed my body, it didn't fully address how I thought, coped, or persisted through setbacks. That gap became most clear this past year. At the start of the swim season, my blood sugar was worsening due to CF-related diabetes, and my performance in the pool had stalled. I began to wonder if I had hit my ceiling. For the first time, effort and medicine weren't enough. Improving my outcomes would require a mindset shift. As I committed to that shift, I also set a concrete goal: to achieve a personal best in the 100 freestyle - something I hadn't done in two years. Drawing on concepts from my developmental psychology coursework in growth and resilience, I began to intentionally apply psychological strategies to my daily life. I focused on building consistent habits, strengthening my self-talk, and leaning into support from my coach and teammates. As I did, I saw tangible changes: my blood sugar stabilized, my confidence grew, and my performance improved. By the end of the season, I had not only reached my goal in the 100 freestyle, but set four lifetime personal bests and was named "Most Improved" female athlete on my team. More importantly, I gained a new understanding: while the body's limitations are real, the mind shapes how we meet them. That experience revealed a gap I had experienced firsthand: despite having access to psychological support, I had not fully embraced its role in my care or taken ownership of applying it consistently. Through both my personal experience and academic work, I have come to believe that this disconnect between physical treatment and psychological well-being is one of the most important problems in chronic illness care. Patients are taught how to manage their physical health, but not how to navigate the mental and emotional challenges that come with it. This realization shaped my academic and professional goals. I am pursuing psychology with the intention of working in clinical practice with patients living with chronic illness, helping them integrate psychological tools into their medical care. I want people with CF and other chronic illnesses to feel equipped not just to manage their condition, but to pursue their goals with confidence. My experiences have shown me that while limitations are real, they do not have to define what is possible. By helping others strengthen their mindset alongside their physical care, I hope to support them in creating their own sense of progress and achievement. Ultimately, my journey has taught me that living with CF is not only about overcoming challenges - it is about understanding how to grow through them. That understanding is what drives the impact I hope to make.