Life is full of drawbacks and obstacles that have formed me to the person I am today. Academically and personally, it was tremendously frustrating for me to become a successful person. Early in my life I was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In order to become who I am now, I have fought other people’s opinions and learned to overcome issues with my health. No matter what “bump in the road” is thrown at me, I remind myself life goes on.

To move on from involuntary tics seemed to be impossible. From battling to attend elementary school, not being in my mother’s presence, or even trying to distract myself was the most difficult test in my life. Ever since a young age I have felt the need to obsess over little body movements that have interfered with my everyday life. Between continuously blinking my eyes, checking my hands repeatedly, and jumping up and down has made it hard for me to continue my day normally. But unfortunately these actions became normal to me. I adapted to a routine.

While attending school, I would experience tough mornings consisting of excessive amount of tears and phone calls to my mom. The interruption of my tics and anxiety throughout the day would cause me to be absent from class and fall behind in my education. My tics would most likely trigger when in a school environment. To conquer my obsessions I would focus my attention on stress balls, pictures of my family, and the matching necklace that my mother, sister, and I wore. Creating connections to certain objects helped me to distract my mind and not think about my body movements.

My tics would start off with thoughts and suggestions in my head telling me to act upon a movement. I have learned to suppress my tics and wait to go forth with them when in a private area to save myself the embarrassment. When associating with others face-to-face I would have to fight my muscles to not twitch my eyes or continuously flip my hands over. Some situations I am able to hold in my actions, however my mental suggestions seem to win almost every time. Tourette’s syndrome is commonly used for mockery and judgment for people who aren’t even clinically diagnosed, which is frustrating because it is not a joke when living with it.

I think I deserve the Dollars 4 Tics Scholarships due to the fact of having to battle through obstacles when trying to succeed in academics. When learning new material in school it was extremely frustrating to avoid my tics and not let them take over my train of thought, however I overcame it. This scholarship lets me know how strong of a person I have become by not letting my tics stop me from furthering my future. By receiving this scholarship lets me know I can conquer anything I desire to attack.