Growing I never knew when my illness (sickle cell anemia) would offer a new crisis taking me back to the hospital. This constant uncertainty and time spent at the hospital, plus the obstacles it put on my physical abilities made it feel impossible for me to keep up with my peers. Eventually I felt like a burden on my family and that my experiences increased my feeling of being different and my loneliness . Hear how a surgery in my teens helped me with my pain, but how it presented another challenge of mobility. Learn how changing my focus towards my strengths helped me excel in school, and how politics as a passion gave me a life’s purpose to improve society where I had met obstacles.