I am 30 years young and although I was born in Chicago, Illinois I have lived in Richmond, Virginia all my life. I have two fur babies at home: a chunky short-haired black cat named Argentina (Tina for short) and a black and white Syrian hamster named Bessie. My hobbies include cooking, hiking, writing and art.

When I was around eleven, I was diagnosed with Turner’s Syndrome which completely changed my life. In the 10th grade, I had a full spinal fusion surgery and had to pretty much learn how to walk again, and I also had a three-month recovery before getting back to school. Around the same time, I was diagnosed with Turner’s Syndrome, I was also diagnosed with Autism. Since Turner’s Syndrome was new, there was a lot of learning that my Family and I had to do since we had no understanding of it, which made Autism put on the back burner. It wasn’t until 15 years later that I seriously did research and got help in understanding it. The most recent life-changing diagnosis that has occurred in my life is diabetes.

All these things have made me who I am and made me want to write and share my experiences and let people know they are not alone. In addition to writing for this publication, I am working on a book entitled How to Help Someone Like Me. It’s kind of like a self-help/ memoir hybrid detailing all the tools I wish I had known earlier for my mental health and physical health obstacles.

Growing up I had family that lived in Spain that would visit, so I was exposed to the Spanish language at a young age. I was in the Spanish Immersion program at J.R. Tucker High School and got the privilege to spend time in Costa Rica. After the Immersion program, I went to Spain for a year to live with my aunt and uncle along with their adorable four-year-old twins. I also studied Spanish at the University of Granada and travelled to Morrocco with classmates.

Travelling to Spain sparked my love for travel and learning about different cultures. While I hope to travel in the future, I mostly express this now with my love for cooking food. I love trying food from different countries and trying to cook them myself. Learning the language, I also love, I will try to watch programs and movies in different languages every chance I get.

That’s about me in a nutshell. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading my articles. Everybody has a story (or stories) to tell and hope you tell yours.