Dakota Kellam

Dakota Kellam was diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy in 6th grade. In 8th grade, the diagnosis changed to juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. She went to the epilepsy monitoring unit in November 2017 and was officially diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy with photosensitive tendencies and stress seizures. Middle school for her was very dreadful. She was not involved in any activities and had distanced herself from everybody.

She finally got back into education, extracurriculars, and volunteering. She also started socializing again. Dakota found herself more involved in cheerleading and softball at Magna Vista High School. All her friends, coaches, and teammates are very supportive of her disorder and do not treat her any differently. She was junior varsity captain (2017) for cheer and is now a varsity cheerleader. Softball has been a part of her life since she was 3 years old. She was team captain in 2015 for Laurel Park Middle School and is now a leader for junior varsity softball at Magna Vista. Dakota always shares her personal epilepsy experience with every team she is on. Dakota wants people to realize there is no reason to let a disorder or situation in life get you down. She never lets her disorder get in the way of getting through life.