Every situation has only made me more confident,
stronger and certain with communicating my concerns,
such as when I cannot hear them, when I cannot
comprehend their fast dialect, and that I cannot hear
them when they are directly behind me.
The same thing goes for overcoming vision
difficulties. As a child, there were times where I was
still adjusting to the prosthesis and whenever I was
bothered with it, I would just take it out and hand it
over to my caregiver. I have been bullied, called names
such as lazy eyed, cross-eyed, and four eyes. Actually,
I was never really four eyes, it was more like two eyes.
I would also intentionally roll my eye to freak out the
bullies. You can’t take life too seriously. Life is too
short.
This summer, I am planning my first independent
endeavor and photographic excursion to Senegambia
(West Africa), with the goal of giving back by teaching
photography to the youth, and sharing what I learned
from them upon my return, through photos and a
short film. With all the lemons life has given
me, I feel ready to conquer the challenges
and accomplish fulfilling my destiny, all
while making lemonade. Life could be
worse, but I am forever grateful to be a
survivor.