Meet the 2022 Scholars

"2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the AbbVie CF Scholarship. As we celebrate this milestone, we look forward to continuing to recognize more students pursing their educational goals. Please share your future ambitions in the Cystic Fibrosis community, professionally and personally."

The cystic fibrosis community will always be a place of peace and comfort to me. Growing up with CF was very isolating and lonely at times. It was hard being the only one of my friends who needed to go to the hospital or miss school because of a minor cold. I always yearned for a relationship where my friend could not only understand what I was going through, but actually went through it themself. The CF community has been that friend for me in recent years. I feel as though nobody should feel alone in fighting cystic fibrosis, which is why the community is such a strong force. Personally, I will strive to keep the CF community a welcoming place and make sure our youth know that they are not alone. I have already worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to start teen video chats. This is to help those who feel alone in this fight, make friends or vent about the struggles they have been facing. To me, there has always been a tremendous difference between talking to people who are sympathetic to what you are going through, versus people who have experienced first-hand what you are going through. During my sophomore year of high school, my health deteriorated pretty drastically. I was admitted to the hospital several times, but never really got better. Something that really helped my mental state was the friends that I had made in the cystic fibrosis community. They would check in with me every day, ask how I was doing and offer advice if I was not feeling well. I have learned so much from being in this community and I want other people to feel the same. Professionally, my goal is to keep advocating for the CF community and make our voices heard. My hope is to be a professional videographer and work with a group of people to capture moments on film. I will continue to be vocal about having cystic fibrosis and advocate for myself in the workplace. Fundraising has always been something that I have enjoyed doing, but I have also received the benefits of. In November of 2019 I started a life-saving medication. I held in my hands physical proof of the years of fundraising that myself and others had done. It was such a rewarding feeling, both mentally and physically. Because of this, I will continue to use my voice in the workplace and raise awareness and money for a cure. These funds and awareness will directly impact the CF community and add more tomorrows.