Juvenile Arthritis Scholarship Essay

As I began my sophomore year of high school, I envisioned another year full of sports and normal high school activities. I was looking forward to playing basketball as I had done in my freshman year. A few weeks into the new school year I slowly realized that vision would not play out how I thought it would. When I began to notice a nagging pain in my hands and fingers that would not go away, I knew something was wrong. Basketball, a sport that I had once loved to play became almost impossible for my swollen hands to handle. The pain progressively got worse and eventually spread throughout my body, making it difficult to walk and carry out simple tasks. After two long months of tests and several doctors, I was finally diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I was part of a group that helped raise money and get school supplies that was for the student of the Judson school district who could not afford to get them, themselves. I am still active in community services, even though I am not as active as i once was I still do what i can and it is a big part of who i am and i love to help and offer my services for things that really help others and my community. I am a very diverse type of person, i like to be active in different things. In intermediate school my 6th grade year i played basketball for one year through BVYA. I was in band for three years, it was my 6th grade year to my 8th grade year i played the flute

In my rotation at Georgetown, I sought to explore the field of rheumatology at a tertiary level and in doing so, gained experience in common autoimmune conditions and some rare ones as well all which served to solidify my interest in the field. One of the most pleasant aspects of my duties at Georgetown was the opportunity to work with children. In taking pediatric rheumatology consults, I realized that as a rheumatologist I may be able to care for patients of all age groups, leading to an interesting and highly diversified

Over the past year, I have served my school and community in many different ways. Whether it be through volunteering or participating in organizations that work to make changes in the lives of others. I try to stay involved in my environment. Currently, I am a student at Rockford Lutheran High School. With the multitude of clubs, my school offers, I am able to interact with other club members to promote student participation. Every year we participate in drives and fundraisers. In Key Club, each year we put together solider boxes. We collect a variety of small items and send hand packaged boxes to our fighting soldiers, as a gift for christmas. Other drives that I partake in are the canned food drives for the local food pantries, and the clothing drives to give winter clothing to those less fortunate. This helps to provide this vulnerable population with warmth during the cold winter months.

I am a very compassionate individual, in the past I worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant, though I can't do that anymore, I still find ways to help the seniors whether it is at the store and they need someone to push their cart and shop with them, currently i am pursuing a volunteer opportunity with the YWCA in Lynnwood for women and children. I also volunteer at a daycare center I am a strong advocate for stregthening families, educating them how to handle conflict and how to help their communities.

My Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis; that’s what set my mind to being a Medical Lab Technician. As an optimistic freshman, I had a mindset that my 4 years of high school would go smoothly with flying colors; I was taking my first college class, AP World History. However, mid-year that mindset changed. I had been having major knee pain for 2 weeks with high fever, it was agony. My parents immediately took me to the hospital because my primary physician thought I had Kawasaki. As we were waiting in the emergency room, I could feel my parent’s consternation. I’m the first born with one younger sister. I can’t picture how distraught my parents would be if their first child passed away at such a young age with so much academic potential. Along with that, it had been less than a year that my grandmother passed away so my mom was truly

The pain and swelling was never long, but it had her crying every time it occurred. I remember asking her one morning before I headed to school, what was bothering her. Her reply was “Baby it is just a little arthritis.” I stopped and thought to myself, what is a little of arthritis. I figured arthritis is pain, which lead me to learn more.

There are different types of arthritis such as gouty arthritis which causes a swelling usually in the big toe, psoriatic arthritis that often occurs along with psoriasis and reactive arthritis which usually involves the eyes, urethra and joints. Juvenile arthritis is an umbrella term used to describe any form of childhood arthritis or arthritis-related conditions which affects people under 16 years old. The most common form of childhood arthritis is juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) which is also referred to as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Individuals who suffer from JRA experience stiffness and joint inflammation that result into swelling, warmth, soreness and redness of the joints. JRA, also

I am a very hard working, and independent women who has had to go through a lot of tough situations to be where I am today and I am very proud of that. From having to go through rough patches in my life, it has turned me into the type of person who likes to help others when they are struggling in their life as well or just to be a kind human being. I am highly involved in clubs in my school, such as FCCLA, FBLA, Interact, Spanish club, Spirit club, and I was a member of FFA for a year and half because I love the community involvement that they all seek out. I am also currently a certified lifeguard at the Butler Aquatic Center and have been going on three years now. Being able to lifeguard lets me have the interaction with people that I enjoy

Outside of school, I'm thoroughly involved in my community. I've already done one hundred and fifty-five hours of community service (and counting). I'm mainly involved with TCLBAF (Tri-Cities Lady Bulldogs Athletic Foundation) Inc., where our mission is to mentor youth in our community. We expose them to sports and

I currently have 85 volunteer hours, but I continue to volunteer. I volunteered at my local branch of Habitat for Humanity where I cleaned and restored furniture that was later sold. The profit was donated to local charities in my county. I also volunteered at the local International and Greek Festivals. I assisted the vendors at these festivals. These festivals expose the people of my city to different elements of many cultures. I joined and assisted the FSU Office of College Access Programs, which is an office at my local university where a group of college readiness programs are located. These programs provide help to high school students in my county, and I help by doing tasks for the people who work there and helping at their events. I volunteered at local museums and participated in The Second Harvest Food Drive, an annual event in which my school collects cans for our local Second Harvest Food

In some way I have contributed to the community. I have been working for program Kings County Youth Services. I have worked in school as a janitor, At the Avenal Infant Center helping the teacher to take care of the children and organized the classroom. I am joined to club ELLOS(English language learners opting for success. I help to sell things in the football games ,and I also make gifts to sale for Valentine's day or Christmas and all this with the purpose of raising money for scholarships. Being in this club I learn how to work in group, Even though if you do not like some classmates you still have to work because is for a good cause that will benefit all of

I have volunteered to be a host for 4-H’s Performing Arts competition. I have done community service through 4-H and the local recycling center. I have became more involved in school. I have also became more determined for my academic success.

In addition to working full time and attending school as a full time student, I shadowed a Dosimetrist and a Radiation Therapist at Gamma West Cancer Services for approximately 30 hours over a one month period. This job shadow included participation in the care of cancer patients and use of computed tomography. I have had multiple opportunities to serve the people in my community and in other communities near me. I have had the privilege to volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America for two years. This has allowed me to mentor and aid young men in learning life skills, service, leadership, overcoming obstacles, and the power of hard work. I have been able to participate in multiple Eagle Scout projects including helping collect and package

Juvenile arthritis is a term used to put all the “autoimmune and inflammatory conditions” that anyone under the age of 16 has (Juvenile Arthritis). With almost 300,000 children being affected with juvenile arthritis, it’s easy to believe they all carry the same struggle and pain (Juvenile Arthritis). However, there are many different types of juvenile arthritis that children battle with. The most common forms of juvenile arthritis are juvenile lupus, Kawasaki disease, and Rheumatoid arthritis (Juvenile Arthritis).