“My dream for the future is…”

Discovering your voice in a crowd and finding the strength to be heard are experiences everyone can relate to. Growing up, I was the first person to question a teacher about a grade or challenge my high school’s unwillingness to recycle, and yet I refused to say that I needed a water bottle to keep myself hydrated or that I should be allowed to carry pills in order to digest my food. I had a voice, but I just refused to use it. Cystic Fibrosis, for a long time, remained a part of me that could not be seen or heard.

At age twenty, I can now say that I have found my voice. Cystic Fibrosis remains something that cannot be seen, but it can certainly be heard. Every time I refuse to allow myself to be put in a position where my health could be compromised, I am using my voice. It is through my own struggle that I have realized the importance of doing this for others. My dream for the future, after graduating College, is to attend law school. As an advocacy lawyer, I would be in a unique position to make changes in the lives of others who struggle to be heard.

Cystic Fibrosis was once a word that I would rarely say. It was not part of who I wanted to be. I have come to realize that not only has it made me who I am, but it has helped to define my dream for the future and who I will one day become.