Living Beyond Limits

At 7 years old, I was diagnosed with absence seizures. When I was 12, I had my first tonic-clonic seizure. Eventually, after two years of being seizure-free, I got my driver’s license, which didn’t last long. I started to have clusters of seizures and more tonic-clonic seizures. Over 11 years with epilepsy, I had been on six medications when we finally took the RNS route at the end of June 2025. I had my family through all of it. They were trained to spot my seizures.

When it came down to academics, I struggled, but learning to communicate with my teachers was vital. I would advocate for myself, and my teachers would help me. I earned an academic scholarship and was accepted into the Honors College at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I’m going to study finance with the hope of being a corporate lawyer. I also leaned on my family a lot when I needed help. They were always there and as supportive as they could be.

Never let your epilepsy limit or define you. If you let it limit who you are, you will never find out what you can be. So, don’t give up. Everyone goes at a different pace in life. Make sure you find your people, and they will help you through it. I hope my story will help others realize that it’s important not to give up or let epilepsy control your life. Even though I still have seizures, I don’t let them limit me.