Page 12 - 2018 HLA Senior Yearbook

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V Why should you be considered?
As a child, I faced a multitude of health challenges such as severe sleep apnea. This meant my favorite pastime was
sleeping and I would pursue it at every occasion and on any surface. My mother, tired of scraping me off of the E terrazzo at Publix, banished me and my free cookie to ride in the grocery cart until I was six. Even after receiving
my CPAP, I still had less energy than many children. My Mom tells me that my idea of P.E. was "You run. I'll watch." So, the first time I ran through the store, my parents shamelessly cheered me on. As I grew, I found that I enjoyed laid-back ballet and eventually decided to enjoy piano as well, since my mother wouldn't let me out of it.
Two months before my tenth birthday, I contracted a severe headache that lasted for nearly a year. Heat, running, and pressure all compounded my pain. Nevertheless, I pushed through ballet and piano. My life seemed to become an endless series of doctor's visits which provided no answers, only more questions. Nobody could make
R sense of the abnormal lab results, only confirm that something was wrong. Eventually, the pain ceased. Yet it changed my life. Gone were the Christmas cookies, I found myself on a permanent gluten-free and sugar-free diet. Running and heat continued to give me crushing headaches. So, pain eliminated many sports. I eventually left dance but later turned to dressage, which, unlike running, did not hurt my head.
Later, just before I turned sixteen, I was diagnosed with a form of Scleroderma, an incurable autoimmune skin disorder that creates scars on the skin. That explained the mysterious appearance of scars on my hands, feet, legs, and trunk, and raised the issue of losing my mobility. The scars, and the dark spots that preceded them, almost
C completely surrounded my left knee and both ankles – and the more I grew, the tighter they became. For a while, my parents thought that my condition might kill me before I turned twenty by growing inward from the skin through organs, bone, and nerve. My future looked uncertain. Doctors offered me a lifetime of chemotherapy, steroids and little hope for improvement. However, my parents and I opted for a time-consuming protocol of diet, targeted exercise, essential oil and supplements. In the Summer of 2017, I was re-diagnosed with a milder type of scleroderma that did not involve internal organs. Even though my new rheumatologist had to offer the standard chemotherapy and steroids, she also encouraged me to stick to my protocol after seeing that some of the scars have reversed. No drugs can do that. However, the complexity of this regimen takes much time, patience and
O money.
Soon after my original diagnosis in my sophomore year of high school, we moved to Gadsden County. While this move improved our ability to organically garden and raise meat animals, it gave the word "chores" an entirely new meaning. The home we bought needed fences, super-sized garden beds, a chicken coop, composters, and irrigation lines. We hand dug the garden beds out of clay soil, and I learned to appreciate more varieties of greens than I ever knew existed. Our homestead also needed chickens, big dogs (coyote deterrence officers), and cats (as pest control). Far from my girlhood dreams of a Laura Ingalls Wilder type homestead, I learned the grittier side of
M farm life. I am an authority on just how to properly clean and blow dry baby chicken bottoms. This, of course, makes an interesting college resume item.
Another word our move redefined was "errand". When you live thirty-five miles out of town, "short trip" becomes a relative term. Continuing my Tallahassee activities now meant more than hour-long round trips. In spite of this, I volunteered more than a hundred hours at PlayBig Therapy and Learning Center, Centershot archery program, the Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum, and Classical Conversation's Parent Practicum combined. After my piano teacher retired, I became involved in the Tallahassee Homeschool String
E Orchestra at the start of my junior year, in spite of receiving my first violin only two months before. Now, thanks to my tremendously talented violin teacher, I am leading a section of the orchestra, something I never dreamed of before. All my extracurricular activities are a testament to my family's support of my opportunities.
Maintaining the balance between managing my health, school, and extracurricular is a significant challenge. Between my health routine, which takes at least an hour a day to maintain, and volunteering I am forced to keep a
sharp eye on my school work. I have to balance schoolwork with exercise and rest because I cannot afford for my
scars to grow and inhibit my mobility. But I have much to be thankful for, and much hope to share. So, although R my health challenges will continue, I am looking forward to becoming an awesome
Pediatric Speech Therapist. It will be a thrill to help others overcome frustration, push through to success and open up at a new level. And, thankfully, it doesn't involve blow drying babychicken bottoms.
XIRDNEH NEELIA YERDUA