First of all I want to thank everyone who took the time to read my first piece with the wish dish. You never know how ones story can affect you and the Wish Dish has a ton of great stories that are inspiring and insightful.

Will Smith stars in a movie called Seven Pounds as the character Ben Thomas trying to save seven deserving strangers. If you haven’t seen this film be ready to get the tissues out because it’s very emotional. Woody Harrelson who some may know (or just me) from the classic movie White Men Can’t Jump as Billy Doyle plays the character Ezra Turner in the film. Ezra is a telemarketer who sells meat but is also blind. Ben calls Ezra at his job harassing him to see if he would break.

Check it out:

This scene was so moving to me because he demonstrated what patience truly is. Although his body language shows he was hurt from the harsh words, he still had a smile on his face and remained polite and calm.

This past year was a challenge for me, as my patience would really be tested. As I mentioned in my first piece with the Wish Dish, I had a dream of playing professional basketball. I had it all planned out, sign a contract, average this amount of points and hopefully sign a better deal the next year. However, that plan was not what God had for me but it took me awhile to realize that. Every time my agent would call my heart would stop just hoping something would come up. I questioned whether I’d play the game that has done so much for me. There were days I didn’t even want to watch basketball let alone go to the gym and workout.

I felt like a part of me was just stripped away and it was never coming back.

Although I was going through this tough time, I knew I was prepared for it. In my basketball career I’ve endured many obstacles that have shaped me into the person I am today. For example, my freshman year of high school I had the idea that I would play Junior Varsity because I felt I was too good for the freshman team. I was humbled that year where I didn’t make the J.V. team and would end up playing freshman. Frustrated wasn’t even the word, especially since one my best friends would make the team over me. That experience was probably the best thing that could have happened to my career. After a year of playing with some of my closest friends to this day, I would improve my game and leadership qualities. The next summer I worked my butt off and ended up becoming a starter on the Varsity team and from there my high school career would take off.

Looking back on that time I knew the place I was in was familiar and there was still some hope for my dreams.

With my basketball aspirations on hold, I had to figure out what my next move would be. I immediately turned to one a person who has been a big influence in my life on and off the court. My High School coach Chris Whelan is the Co-Owner of a company called Overtime Athletics. Overtime Athletics specializes in after school sport enrichment programs working with over 500 schools all over the country and summer camps as well. From starting this job full time, I knew it would limit my time from basketball but I needed a way to stay involved in the game.

Ever since high school I’ve done personal training with kids who would like to improve their game on a personal level. I’ve been fortunate to play at a high level so it is only right for me to pass along the knowledge I learned from the game. I trained about 6 kids throughout the year and it was a joy to see them work hard and get better. This summer I had the opportunity to run a basketball camp with OTA along with my older brother Walter and some old teammates of mine. We had so much fun working with a great group of kids that were eager to learn.

I think we often forget what’s important when we have our minds set on something we want. Looking back on my situation I thank God I didn’t play professionally my first year out because I would have missed out on so many great people I met and impacted this year.

I became closer to family and friends than ever before and at the end of the day no contract can replace that.

Matthew 17:20 reads, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” This bible verse has been instilled in me since I could remember and I’ve always stuck to it. Like Ezra I still had a smile on my face no matter the circumstance and trusted God and his plan for me. I was passed along an opportunity of continuing my basketball career as well as getting my masters at a university overseas. I immediately jumped on it thinking this would be a great opportunity not only to play again but also to further my education. Thanks to TeamGleas and owner Lindsey Gleason I would find my new home at the University of Essex in Colchester England. I am pursuing my masters in Marketing and Management in addition to continuing my playing career.

There are so many people I want to say thank you to but I know you guys don’t want to read that but all my family and friends know who you are. My purpose in sharing my story is to show people that you may not know at the time what will unfold but be aware because there are blessings to be found in every situation.

Wish Dish is awesome, thank you again for the opportunity to share. Stay Blessed people! #LetsGoChamp

To read Austin’s first story, Sky’s the Limit, click the link!

I thought I would never see my family again. I was told I was a disgrace and that I had committed one too many betrayals against the Arab culture. I went to my half-empty dorm bedroom and tried to kill myself. I was so sick of the pressure and the blame of being who I was, and I figured I’d be doing everyone a favor. An honor killing, if you will, except contrary to normal tradition, I’d be inflicting the “honor” on myself.

Clearly, I didn’t succeed, considering that I’m writing this right now. I was drinking and had a pair of scissors and two bottles of pills to help me in the act. My roommates came in to our apartment and I was then caught.

And later, after I woke up from a dreadful alcohol-induced sleep, I got up to deal with the mess(es) that I had made. I forced myself to act strong, like it wouldn’t hurt, like my parents’ absence in my life would be for the better and that the only detriment would be finally paying my own phone bill.

My work ethic and relationship with my boyfriend were struggling. It’s improbable that this was a direct result of family problems, but consequently, I felt like I was losing all of my support systems at once. It came out that my boyfriend was cheating on me, and we temporarily broke up.

Already sick, I didn’t eat for days and started slipping back into the toxic habits of drinking myself to sleep and hanging out in sketchy places. My classes threatened to be too much for me in seven weeks, and I, once the valedictorian with a 98.6 core average, prayed to pass with B’s.

I struggled emotionally and physically, finding it difficult to keep food down and enjoy the things that used to give me any pleasure, like sex, reading or spending time with my friends. Thunderstorms blackened the unbearable Georgia summer heat, and I doubted that I would make it to the fall.

My boyfriend and I reconciled and got back together – I elected to choose forgiveness because resentment and anger never got me anywhere I wanted to be in the past – and things gradually returned to a semi-normal state.

I buried myself in schoolwork and started drinking less. My parents began speaking to me again- it wasn’t how I wanted our relationship to be. I still didn’t trust them, and I know that mistrust went both ways. But I stayed with them for a week that summer, and it went well. While fearing the loss of the essential scholarship due to my difficult upper level summer classes, I received a report card covered in A minuses and felt relief.

The past year has had its stressors: getting mugged and lost, genuinely fearing for my life on multiple occasions, a sex addiction, numerous cases of adultery, my parents’ marriage failing (and my father’s use of me as a scapegoat), and adjusting to a rigorous class and work schedule in the big city.

But every time I thought I was drowning, I came up above water. I’ve found confidence in myself to face whatever obstacles life throws at me and faith that I will survive it.

My first post on Wish Dish — Savannah’s Challenge — was a short summary of some of the things she’s been dealing with for the last 10 years. Part II is a specific story about what happened over the four days that followed that posting when her cough turned into an emergency.

This is Savannah’s story, but it’s more than that … it is an opportunity to shift our perspective. It’s interesting that Jesus said to enter the Kingdom of God one must have the faith of the child. Faith, in a sense, is perspective. And Savannah’s perspective is heavenward.

Savannah ended up spending four days in the hospital after we took her to the ER. It was amazing through all of it that the doctors never had to put her on an IV and they were never able to identify any sickness. For some reason (twisted spine, lordosis, super weak muscles, gunk getting stuck or something else), she just couldn’t get in the oxygen she needed. Her new normal (for now) is sleeping with these two machines, a BiPAP + supplemental oxygen connected. During the day she uses a vest that shakes her body to dislodge any gunk and then a cough assist that shoots air into her and then sucks air back out. Of course, she still has her 24-hour brace that she is supposed to wear around her torso because of her spine’s curve. The problem is that the doctors think that while it might slow down the progression of the scoliosis, it might also be making the lordosis worse and that could be pushing into her lungs.

Our biggest challenge right now is not knowing what this is and where it is headed.

Something has happened in her body to make her significantly weaker. And what has been a big part of our challenge with this undiagnosed genetic condition is that every year or so a new symptom of the syndrome pops up … or a symptom of a symptom. I have started emailing leading pediatric research centers around the world about Savannah and will follow up with phone calls to try to find someone who has seen a combination of Savannah’s symptoms and markers before. There is very possibly someone out there who has seen this and can help her in a way no one else can. In the meantime, we will continue to try to get some meat on her bones, do daily scoliosis and lordosis therapy, and daily strengthening and breathing exercises.

Most importantly, we will continue to tell her she’s a missionary. We watched “Miracles from Heaven” (for the third time) last night. Savannah said: “She’s a missionary just like me.” When I took Savannah to the doctor Tuesday I had to carry her in. The nurse who hooked up the machine to measure her oxygen, heart rate, and blood pressure kept turning it on and off and then unplugging it and plugging it back in. He said that there must be something wrong with the machine because “those numbers can’t be right.” The doctor came in and confirmed those numbers were right.

They sounded so concerned that after they left the room, Savannah, lying on the table barely able to move, asked me: “Daddy, am I going to die before my time?”

I’d never heard her say anything like that before. I’ve seen a scene like that in movies and I know other families have children with situations much worse than ours that deal with that question often, but Savannah saying that was the first time in these 10 years that the thought of losing her entered my head and my heart. I told her that she can’t die before her time because God is in control and that was all she needed to hear. She immediately smiled, reassured. The faith of a child lying on a doctor’s table just needing to know it was all going to be OK.

And she will be OK. She’s so grateful that her life is inspiring and encouraging others. She carries a hope inside her that gives her spirit light even when her body seems to have very little life at times. She is always positive, she never complains. Isn’t that incredible? She knows that God has purpose for her life. She knows that Heaven is for eternity and this life is for a short moment. One day about a year ago I caught her reading the Bible and I asked her which book she was reading. She was reading Revelations. I thought that would be a difficult book for a nine-year-old, but she said it is her favorite because it talks about Heaven. She asks me questions about Heaven all the time. Savannah’s hope is in something greater than anything on this earth can offer her.

And we can all live with the same hope.

The Bible says that God is perfect and we are not, and the imperfect cannot mix with the perfect. The consequence of imperfection is that it cannot be with perfection. That is the price of imperfection. Just like a speeding ticket is the price of speeding. But God didn’t want to be separated from us. So He sent His perfect Son to pay the price of our “speeding ticket” because we could not afford to do so. The Perfect was separated from the Perfect so that the imperfect did not have to be. The speeding ticket only needs to be paid once, and Jesus has paid it for you, me, Savannah, and everyone. There is nothing you can do to get to Heaven; you can’t afford the price. But you can go because Jesus could afford the price and He paid it for you.

There is no greater love than that. That is the love that fills us as we walk this journey with Savannah. That is the love that gives her peace and hope even in the midst of the storm. That is the love pursuing you today. If you will pause for just a moment and turn around, that love will be right there. That love will wrap itself around you in the most incredible hug you’ve ever imagined and that love will fill you in a way that satisfies every question, confusion, hurt, fear, anger, bitterness, anxiousness, and longing you’ve ever had. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him — in Him paying the price for you — will not be separated from God but instead will live with God in Heaven forever.

Please message me if you have any questions about Heaven, faith, or your eternity. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement.

And here is part 1 of Savannah’s Challenge:

Savannah’s Challenge

Everyone has challenges. Savannah’s spine is twisted so much that her diaphragm on one side can’t punch her lung to get gunk out … on top of that her body is too weak to cough with enough force anyway.

She had to stay home from school today because she coughs incessantly when she gets just a little gunk in her lungs. The attached picture is of her using her cough assist machine to suck gunk out.

We spent a week at Duke University a few months ago as a part of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network. For five days, 10-12 hours per day, we met with doctors, reviewed data from the almost 10 other major hospitals Savannah has visited since she was born, and of course they conducted X-rays, drew blood, told her to cough harder, harder, harder into a tube over, and over, and over again. And they are still stumped. It’s genetic, but we know nothing more than that.

But it’s not a sad story. It’s a challenge.

And everyone has them. Life can be hard. Overwhelming. The unknown can be scary. Watching someone suffer or being the one suffering can break your heart, weigh you down, and feel like it is too much to handle. But it’s not about the challenges; everyone has challenges. It’s about how we live through them.

Savannah lives really well through her challenges and in doing so she inspires me to do the same. She’s not just tough; she is faithful (full of faith). I am sharing this so that you can know that we all have challenges in our lives. Savannah inspires me and I want to help her amplify the voice of her life so she can inspire you too.

Don’t allow the challenges to win. Live well through them; not only will you be happy you did but you’ll inspire others to do the same!

Our University of Georgia community was struck with a horrible tragedy and immense heartache this past week. We lost the lives of four amazingly beautiful young women and our prayers are with the fifth whom is still laying in a coma, hoping that she is able to pull through.

I faced what I thought would be the worst of losses my senior year of high school when one of my class and teammates, Tracey Vander Kolk, succumbed to suicide. I went to a typical high school of around 2,500 students, where just about everyone knew of everyone. When we lost this beautiful soul, our Severna Park community came together in the most amazing of ways to support each other through this dark time.

We had every sort of stereotypical group you could imagine for a school of teenage kids, but when this happened, when we lost someone that we all knew and loved, everyone was just one.

For once there were no clicks dividing who could and would talk to who, we were just Severna Park, mourning the loss of one of our own. The amount of support that my lacrosse team received was immeasurable and I cannot even begin to express how thankful I was, how we all were. My team was my family, and for the first time in what I ever knew, all of Severna Park was too.

When we got the news of the crash last Wednesday night, everyone received texts and calls from loved ones, checking in to make sure that we were okay. A sigh of relief knowing that your best friend, sister, or child was safe, but an ache in your heart knowing that someone else’s wasn’t. Thursday morning, the news broke and names were out. Personally, I didn’t know any of these beautiful girls, but so many people that are so close to me, did. Hearing how highly everyone spoke of each of them, makes me wish I did even more.

Everyone finds their people in college, and being away from home, we all form our own new families.

Whether you go Greek, find your best friends through your major or a club, or in my case, sports, we all find our way into some of the strongest relationships we will ever make. My lacrosse team is my family and I can full-heartedly say that playing with them is the greatest decision I’ve made throughout my college career. By choice or by blood, family is family. They are the greatest support system and biggest influence that anyone will ever have on your life and I cherish mine more than I could ever put into words.

My heart aches for my teammates that lost a part of their family. For the siblings who lost a sister. For the parents who lost a daughter. For the sororities that lost a sister. For UGA students that lost a classmate. For anyone who lost someone who touched their life in some way. Loss is a terrible thing. The worst thing about it, is that it most often takes from us what we have taken for granted.

It is the saddest reality that it seems to take a devastating event in order to bring everyone together.

So many peoples worlds were rocked and lives were left to feel like they were falling apart. But the thing about falling apart is it gives us the opportunity of coming together. Thursday, while a heartbreaking day, was a beautiful day in terms of our UGA community. Everyone came together to pay their respects and celebrate the lives that were lived, and are still fighting to live.

On Thursday our UGA community transformed into one family.

I am without a doubt sure that so many of you have classes with people you have never talked to. Speed walk through Tate to get away from anyone that tries to talk to you into joining their organization. Sit down on a bus and scroll through social media to avoid the awkward encounter of engaging in a conversation with someone whom is a complete stranger and seems totally irrelevant to your life. Won’t go somewhere or do something different without dragging a friend along so 1. you don’t look like a loser and 2. so that you don’t have to meet or talk to anyone new that has the potential of being weird or creepy or some other random undesirable trait.

Trust me, I know, because I do it all.

This crash hit us all just as any crash does, hard. But in light of this tragic loss, I figure that we all have the opportunity to learn to do one simple thing. Love a little more. Love all you can, while you can. Meet new people. Tell the ones that are already in your life how much they mean to you. Appreciate what you have, while you have it! Such a crazy, cliche concept considering your parents shoved this down your throat as a child and somehow not enough of us have actually grasped it yet. We are all so blessed with such wonderful lives, but it is so easy to take that for granted while we are so consumed with our hectic schedules and distracted by what we consider to be “significant” issues.

I cannot even count the number of times I have complained about my life falling apart this semester just because of a little school stress and being unsure about my future, when in reality, some peoples lives really are falling apart.

I am healthy, am going to one of the greatest schools and living in the best town, have the most ridiculously amazing family and friends (and dog) and overall just have a pretty awesome life.

The number of times I’ve actually taken the time to recognize and be truly appreciative of that this week? Not nearly enough. And on top of all that, we’ve all developed this tunnel vision where if something or someone doesn’t directly affect our lives, they aren’t even a part of our reality.

Each person that you meet has the potential to impact your life in an amazing way, but you actually have to meet them! Everyone who knew Christina, Brittany, Halle or Kayla, you are blessed. Blessed because you had the amazing opportunity of knowing a wonderful soul that we all weren’t as lucky to have known. With this in mind, we all need to take advantage of this amazing group of people we are surrounded by at Georgia. Dawg Nation is stronger than ever with the immense love we have shared with each other and the prayers lifted up for each and every single person that has been impacted by this tragic event. As we move forward, we will hold those lost close to our hearts, but carry on knowing that the love they shared is still with us, patiently waiting to be shared with each other.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13

In loving memory of Brittany Feldman, Christina Semeria, Halle Scott, Kayla Canedo and Tracy Vander Kolk.

With thoughts, love and prayers for Agnes Kim.

My twin sister and I were born in 1994 in Mobile, Alabama. Excluding many details, less than 11 months after my birth, I had a heart transplant in Atlanta, Georgia at Egleston Children’s Hospital, today known as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Those who know me know the lengths I go to to appear as an average 21-year old. However, my story is more complicated. I firmly trust in the Lord that only those who need to read my story are reading it right now. Something I wish the seventeen-year-old me could read the twenty-one-year-old me write.

When I was seventeen, after Googling too much (everyone should avoid this) I came to the conclusion that my life would end far sooner than I expected. What I expected to be a full life of 70 years, at the end of a few weeks, changed to a hopeful 25 years.

If I lived to 32 I would break the Guinness World Record.

It was a heavy burden then but weighs less now. However, to this day, I still have to stop, take a deep breath, and refocus.

Those first three months were like being lost in a black abyss where the sea is so shockingly cold, it’s numbing. I was mentally and emotionally unconnected to everything in my life. There were two very special people in my life who somehow found a way to help me open up about my old world that was spinning and falling apart and the new world that was unknown and painful.

God was also there, but at the time I felt He abandoned me. I had always been willing to do as He wished, but I felt He didn’t adequately prepare me for this kind of life.

Before I concluded I only had 8-10 more years, my life plan was nothing special, a balanced life centered around my family. I planned a life that included a husband and children. I imagined what they might go through if I left them. Thus, I would not let them exist at all.

If I couldn’t have a family, maybe I could have an impressive professional life, but what could I possibly achieve professionally before 30? So as time went on, it became easier to think only 7 or 8 years into the future with everything I had wanted being unattainable.

I wish I could tell you what’s it’s like to have nothing in this world you want.

The things I want I can’t secure for myself. I can’t be the mother or wife I wanted to be, or the daughter or sister for that matter.

There is freedom that comes with this. Anyone could take anything away from me, do anything to me, and it can’t compare to the pain I feel knowing I will be the one that causes my parents to bury a child and the one who can’t be with my sister for the rest of her life.

If it’s God’s plan, I’m the one who might even abandon her husband and maybe her young children as well. Parents say that there’s nothing that compares to the pain of losing a child, so imagine you’re the child they lose but you know several years in advance and can’t stop it.

4 years later….

What was numb has come back to life. What was pain and shock has become unfailing trust. What were secrets has become faith in His plan for my life.

I am still reminded that my future is not as secure as it once appeared, but when fear starts to turn to anger and sadness I make a deliberate effort to focus on God’s presence around me. It’s hard to describe how it feels when I purposefully remind myself He is with me, and it is far greater to feel it than to read about it.

It feels like a friend is smiling down at me from higher up on an unknown mountain trail. When I’m sad or tired, it feels like my cheek falling on a trusted shoulder. When I’m angry, it’s hearing a soft plea, talk to Me. When I’m scared it’s a patient and resounding do not be afraid.

 Everyone has a story.

This story is a journey of one’s life. It is this journey and our experiences which define who we are today and who we will become in the future. Like everyone else, I have a story. I went into my senior year of high school with the goal of being accepted into my dream school: the University of Georgia.

I figured this goal would allow me to focus on myself and allow me to find a sense of peace in the midst of all the unhappiness I was feeling at the time.

Toward the end of my senior year, I was accepted into UGA and, in May 2011, I graduated from Brookwood High School. These were some of my fondest moments. I grew up in a very sheltered home, where I did not have as much freedom as other teenagers my age. It made growing up difficult and made me “hate” my parents. It is safe to say I did not have a good relationship with my parents when I was a teenager because they were so controlling and overprotective, which is why being accepted into college, away from home, was something to look forward to.

As move-in day approached in August 2011, I was not excited about moving into a dorm and transitioning into the college world. I knew it was not because I didn’t want to leave home and my parents, but because I did not want to pack. I did not feel ready to embark on a journey I had been waiting for my entire life. Move in day came and my parents and my brothers helped me move into my dorm. While I unpacked a few things on my own, they went out and bought me a futon for my dorm room. After they came back, my brothers and my dad assembled my futon.

I remember thinking, at that moment, that I could not imagine life without them.

After they finished assembling the futon, they were ready to leave. As I said goodbye to them I got teary-eyed. However, I quickly tried to get over it so that it did not seem like I was going to miss my parents. From that evening on, I quickly adjusted to the college life and did not want to turn back. I enjoyed spending time with my roommate, my first friend in college. We wanted to try everything together.

The very first night I moved in, we heard there was a house party and we both wanted to go, mostly because we never went to “parties” while growing up, and we wanted to go for the experience. Although it turned out to be lame, we agreed the next time there was a legitimate party at a bar or club in Athens, we would go. Then, the Thursday of the first week of school we heard about a party hosted by a sorority at a club called Sideways, and it was the best “real college party” my roommate and I went to. My roommate and I did not drink that night, but we had so much fun dancing to good music, going to Waffle House afterwards, and hanging out with friends in our dorm room until 7:00 am the next morning.

That night marked the beginning of many great experiences, crazy adventures, and late nights.

Aside from the fun aspect of college, I came into college undecided on my major. It was a scary place to be. While I was growing up, I never knew what I wanted to become in life. My brothers knew what they had interests in since they were five years old. I used to wonder what was wrong with me. Why did I not have the passion for something that others had? I spent the first semester of college taking the core classes everyone needed to take and spent the mean time figuring out what I wanted to major in.

Eventually, my dad influenced my choice in a major. He suggested I study business, but particularly finance. He told me there are so many opportunities in finance. I remembered thinking, “what is business?” I literally had no concept or understanding of what business was, yet alone finance. Then, the second semester of freshman year came along, and I officially declared finance as my major. I did this mostly because I was tired of telling others I did not know what I wanted to do with my life.

At that point, I thought my worries were gone and all I would need to do is take classes for my major and just graduate.

Boy was I wrong! Before I could officially claim finance to be my major, Terry College of Business needed to accept me into the finance major program. I thought this was odd because most people just begin their major when they get into college. I soon learned the Terry College of Business is one of the top ranked business schools in the U.S. and students had to apply to get in because it was so competitive. I spent my entire sophomore year taking all the Terry entrance classes.

During my first semester of sophomore year, I took Accounting I with the infamous Swati. Everyone told me to take Accounting I at another school where it would be easier to make a good grade because Swati’s class was “terrible”. However, I figured it could not be as bad as people say and as long as I worked hard and studied a harder, I would be fine. I figured I would challenge myself to take Swati’s class. I bombed my first Accounting I exam. I had never done so badly on a test in my entire life. I figured now that I know what to expect I can prepare myself for the second exam. The second exam came around and I remembered leaving from the test around 9:00pm and crying all the way back to my dorm.

I dreaded checking the grade after it was posted a few days later. The moment I checked my grade I cried my eyes out and immediately called my dad to tell him I was going to fail at life and I wanted to change my major because I could not handle my accounting class. However, he was not letting me give up like that. I ended up dropping the class and retaking Accounting I at Georgia Perimeter College.

The experience taught me that no matter how much I work hard in life there will be times when things do not go my way.

However, those pitfalls are not a reason to give up and run away from the problem but tackle the issue head on. At the end of the day, everything will be fine. I was getting through my last set of Terry entrance classes and was beginning to apply to the business school. I was not as worried about getting into the business school because I had made A’s and B’s in the entrance courses. However, applicants were required to take a standardized test, called the ETS exam, to qualify as an applicant for the business college. I knew I was terrible at taking standardized tests. Students are only allowed to take the ETS exam a maximum of two times.

The first time I took the exam, I bombed it. I was nowhere near the acceptable score range for a finance major. I remembered calling home and crying about what happened to my parents. They told me to find a way to prepare for the ETS exam and to pray about it. I come from a family where my parents were devout Christians and I was raised to go to church every Sunday and praying in the evening together as a family. However, I just did all these things for the sake of my parents, not because I felt like I needed God in my life. I remember when my mom encouraged me to pray about the ETS exam, I actually pulled my Bible out, read from it, and prayed about the exam. I took the ETS exam and scored exactly the score I needed in order to qualify as a student who wanted to major in finance.

At that moment, I praised God and realized there is so much power in prayer.

I sent in my application for the Terry College of Business in September 2013 and got accepted into the Terry College of Business with a major in Finance and a Co-Major in International Business in October 2013. This was my next greatest achievement. I was so excited to share the wonderful news with my family and friends. That night I celebrated by going to bars in downtown Athens and had an enjoyable night with my friends who supported me along the way.

December 2013 I secured an internship at the Gwinnett Tax Commissioner’s Office for summer 2014. This internship opportunity was provided for me through an old friend. Considering that we live in in such a competitive world, I realized there is so much power in building a network, especially in the world of business. January 2014 I knew I needed to grow personally and professionally. Now that I was accepted into the finance major program, I knew my classes would be tough and it would have been nice to have help along the way. My close friends were not business majors so I knew they would not be able to help me in my classes.

I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.

I decided to join the professional business fraternity on campus, Delta Sigma Pi. Joining DSP was one of the best decisions I made in college. More than having friends in my finance classes or a network, I had the opportunity to meet diverse individuals of different backgrounds and experiences. DSP also allowed me to build friendships with some amazing people. Spring 2014, I was pledging for DSP and taking the Terry cohort classes (a set of classes all Terry students take upon entry into the business school regardless of major).

One of the best classes I took that semester was MGMT 3000 with Christopher Hanks. Christopher Hanks began the entrepreneurship program at UGA. Although his class was unorganized, I enjoyed his class because he was a wonderful speaker. He preached entrepreneurship and always had great insight to offer.

Professor Hanks began every class with a quote: “Life begins where your comfort zone ends.”

I find this quote, although short, to carry so much meaning. Hanks was right, life really does begin where our comfort zone ends. Life is about stepping out of our comfortable bubble and taking risks. We cannot achieve what we truly desire in life without doing so. It is okay if we fall, fail, or look stupid. We just have to pick ourselves back up and keep fighting for our desires. Life is about making mistakes and learning from them. “Life begins where your comfort zone ends.”

I literally live by this quote every day and encourage those around me to do the same. May of 2014 I went to India to visit my grandparents. I usually went to India every 2 to 3 years ever since I was born just to visit my grandparents. Ever since I started college, I never thought I would never have the opportunity to visit my grandparents between summer classes and internships. By the grace of God, I was able to go to India three weeks after school ended that year. Immediately after I got back from India I interned at the Gwinnett County Office of the Tax Commissioner.

August 2014 kicked off my senior year. Over the summer prior to beginning classes, I was very nervous about senior year because I knew it was going to be the hardest and busiest year in my college career because I would be taking all of my upper level courses for finance and international business. My Corporate Finance class defined the fall semester of 2014 with Professor Lu. Professor Lu was a very brilliant man. He graduated from China with a degree in engineering, received his Master’s degree in economics from Duke, and his PhD in finance from Columbia. Shortly after receiving his PhD, he started his teaching career at UGA.

Professor Lu taught our finance class as it were a master’s program course. I walked out of every single test in his class not feeling good about them. I wanted to drop his class at midpoint but my goal was to graduate the following spring, so dropping his class was not an option for me. My friends and I struggled through his class together and survived. After I took my finals in December 2014, I went on an alternative winter break trip with about 20 other UGA students.

The trip was called IMPACT.

Going on this trip was a way of stepping out of my comfort zone and going on a week-long service trip to Savannah, Georgia with 20 random UGA students right before the holidays. The trip was a great experience and I had the opportunity to meet some amazing individuals while serving the rural and homeless community of Savannah. I reached home in time for the holidays and it was a chance for me to really reflect on where I was in life.

Fall semester of senior year I only focused on making good grades in my classes and barely made the effort to look for a full time job upon graduation. I was disappointed in myself after knowing someone who had five job offers, many of those who accepted their offers, and there I was with no offers. The pressure to obtain a full time job in time for graduation was on. January 2015 approached and I told myself I am going to get a job offer from a company no matter how many sacrifices I would have to make.

I struggled in my finance classes once again, but I made sure to find the balance between classes and finding a job.

In January, an acquaintance of mine came with the Global IT Services team from Ernst & Young for campus recruiting. I talked to her before attending the meeting and she encouraged me to attend the meeting even though the meeting was catered to Management Information Systems & Technology and Computer Science majors. I attended this meeting and realized I was eligible to apply for one of the positions. At the end of the meeting, I spoke with the experienced recruiters at Ernst & Young and they quickly grew very fond of me because of my acquaintance.

February 2015, I interviewed every week with 1 to 2 companies per week for a full time position. I never prayed so much in my life until February 2015. I even asked my parents to pray for me whenever I had an interview. I made it to Round 2 interviews with Ernst & Young. By that point, I knew this was the best company I had ever interviewed with and I needed to successfully get through Round 2, because I had not made it to Round 2 or gotten offers from any other company.

I put school and life on hold and asked a handful of my friends inside and outside of DSP to help me prepare for all aspects of my interviews. March 4, I had my Round 2 interviews at the EY office in Alpharetta. March 5, the campus recruiter called me and told me I had gotten an offer from EY. March 7, I accepted my offer from EY. Praise God! Without the never-ending prayers and support from my family and friends, this would not have been possible.

At that moment, I felt as though a huge burden was lifted from my shoulders.

I went into spring break feeling so relieved and happy. It was the first time in the longest time I had genuinely felt so happy in life. All that was left to do now was to get back on track with my finance classes and graduate. After accepting a job offer and knowing graduation was so close, I was losing motivation to work hard in my classes. The only way I was able to get myself to concentrate was to “live” at the Miller Learning Center.

I remember being there on Friday nights studying when the building was practically deserted. But I did whatever I needed to do in order to finish strong. The most challenging class in the history of my undergraduate career at UGA was Applied Corporate Finance with Blasko. My graduation was contingent on me passing this class. The night before the final exam, a group of friends and I spent the night at the MLC studying for Blasko’s final and took his exam the following morning at 8:00am.

I ended up passing his class and graduated this past May 2015. I owe it all to my mom and dad. They gave me one of the greatest gifts of all, an education. Without their constant, never-ending love, prayers, and support I would not have made it. I moved back home shortly after graduation and I am glad I did. There really is no place like home. Going off to college made me learn to value and respect my parents. More than earning an education and accepting a job offer, I gained a stronger relationship with my mom, dad, and my brothers. I would not trade it for anything in the world. Post-graduation, I began my career at Ernst & Young on June 1, 2015.

I have completed two full weeks at the firm and have already met so many wonderful people. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me now. I have learned, experienced, and grown so much in the past four years and I hope and pray I will only continue to learn, experience, and grow for the better.

My name is Lauren Beers Stanton and I am a daughter, sister, graduate student, friend, wife, and a senior on The University of Alabama’s gymnastics team. I wanted to share with you my story and the challenges that have influenced who I am today.

I was born April 1st, 1994 in Sayre, Pennsylvania. My parents, Rick and Trish Beers had no idea what they were getting into when they entered the world of parenthood. Seven children later, I now had five brothers and one, precious, sister. I had a rather unconventional childhood. Not only am I the oldest of seven siblings, but I was homeschooled and grew up on a dairy farm. I know…sounds like the perfect combination for either a total nerd or a tomboy.

Luckily, I am both of those things but I am also so much more. From a young age I was totally in love with animals. My mom tells me stories of how I would put toads in my doll stroller and push them around the yard.

Other than my love for all animals, including the creepy crawlies, I played like a typical little girl.

That is, until my brothers decided that they didn’t want to play dress up and tea parties. It was now my turn to play army, Legos, and Indiana Jones. When my sister was born, I was able to revert back to girl play for a short time before I discovered a new passion that would take me farther than I ever imagined. This passion was gymnastics. After watching the 2000 Olympics, I was mesmerized by the girls flipping around on the TV and told my mom that I wanted to do that. I started classes soon after and the rest is history.

Flash forward to 2006 when I was 12 years old. I had switched club gyms at this point and had been doing gymnastics competitively for about five years. I was now a second year level 10, which is the highest level you can obtain before becoming an elite gymnast, and facing one of the biggest challenges in my young life.

I had been having issues with my elbow for about a year and one day at practice it collapsed and my joint locked. We went to many different doctors, including specialists, who told me there was nothing they could do for me and I would have to quit gymnastics.

Just imagine, a 12 year old girl being told she had to quite doing the sport she loved and there was nothing that was going to make her arm normal again. To say I was devastated was an understatement. I still remember the first doctor we saw when I first was injured. My best friend, Megan, went to the doctors with my mom and I and we both cried hysterically when he told me, “You can’t play gymnastics anymore”. It was at that moment when I decided that I was going to prove this man wrong and not only do gymnastics again, but be successful at it.

I prayed that God would provide a way for me to do both these things and He did. We were able to see an arm specialist in Indianapolis and multiple car rides and surgeries later, God had answered my prayers. We knew from this point on that my elbows were going to be an issue the rest of my life but through the reassurance of my doctor, I could continue doing gymnastics and have relatively few complications.

Fast forward to 2009 and a different part of my life. I had been best friends with a boy name Nicholas Stanton for about two years at this point and I knew he had “liked” me for a while now. I ended up accepting his offer to attend our church’s formal as his date and the rest is, again, history.

People may say you can’t “fall in love” with someone when you’re that young, but I would definitely have to contend.

God has a plan for everything and He can implement it whenever He chooses. For me, that just so happened to be when I was just barely fifteen. We continued to date throughout high school and into our college years before we decided to take the next step. Marriage.

Now, before we get to that, I have to go back to my gymnastics career. In September 2010, I made the decision to accept a full athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama. Soon after, my faith was tested again when I needed another surgery on both of my arms. My future coaches were extremely supportive and I was back on the road to recovery before I knew it. Now, I’d like to take the time to say that God ALWAYS has a plan. Before this episode I was having with my arms, I was considering moving away from home to train at a better gym to give myself a better chance at the 2012 Olympics. Because of my surgeries, I decided not to. I truly believe that because of this, I am where I am today. I finished out my club gymnastics career at home and then moved to Alabama in August of 2012 to start the next step in my journey.

The first two years of college were amazing and terrible at the same time. While I loved school and being a part of such an amazing team, I missed Nick and I struggled with self-esteem issues that I continue to deal with to this day. I pushed myself in both academics and athletes while maintaining a 4.0 and becoming an All-American.

The summer before my sophomore year Nick and I decided that we didn’t want to have a long distance relationship anymore. After a lot of prayer and thinking, we brought up the idea of marriage to our parents who, although they were shocked to say the least, were supportive. My mom and I planned my wedding over the computer and on May 24, 2014, I got married to the love of my life.

To say he is my soul mate is an understatement and I know that when God created the universe, He planned us for each other.

We faced many different challenges in our dating relationship but through it all, we stayed strong and came out better for it. When people see my ring they are always so surprised to find out I am married and even more surprised to find that I’ve been married for almost two years. I enjoy being able to share my love story with others, especially if I can encourage them to follow what they feel God is telling them and not what the world is trying to conform them into.

Moving on to the last two years, to say they have been a rollercoaster is an understatement. My junior year, my team won our second SEC Championship, I celebrated my one year wedding anniversary, and I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in just three years of school. Then, I had four surgeries and didn’t do gymnastics for almost six months. During my junior year, my elbows started acting up again and I knew I would need surgery soon.

So once season was over, I had a “clean-up” surgery on each of my arms. This wasn’t so bad, especially since the recovery wasn’t more than a few weeks. However, when I did start training again, I took a nasty fall and suffered a spiral fracture in my hand that required another surgery with external fixations in order to heal properly.

While recovering from this second setback, I also discovered that the previous year I had broken my calcaneus and in order for it to stop hurting, I needed ANOTHER surgery to remove the broken piece.

Coming from someone who had never taken more than about two months off of gymnastics for an injury, this was a new situation for me. I was sidelined from the end of April until October. During this time I struggled a lot. I’ve always been a planner and now my whole plan for my “awesome senior year” was completely thrown off. I didn’t even know if I’d be able to compete at all in the regular season. But being the person I am, I set a goal. To come back as soon as possible, while still being safe. I worked my butt off day after day and soon enough, I was back. I was now done with my first semester of graduate school and about to start the competition season.

Without going into detail, I can say that my season has been a crazy rollercoaster of amazing successes and utter failures. Going from someone who had only three falls in my entire collegiate career, to falling off beam four times in one season was heartbreaking. This was not what my senior year was supposed to be like. I was supposed to be the rock of the team, not the most inconsistent one. Frustration became a daily issue. I knew I needed a change of heart and through the help of prayer, Nick, my coaches and teammates, I was able to let go of the need to be perfect and just enjoy the last few weeks of the sport I love so much.

It’s now a week away from being over forever. I’m enjoying every minute in the gym and with my team.

It’s crazy to think that something that’s been a part of my life for over 15 years is coming to a close, but I know that with the closing of this chapter comes the bringing of the next. I will be graduating with my Masters in Sport Business Management this summer with a 4.0, and starting my MBA in the fall. Looking back, I know my success has not come from myself. It has come because God gave me the opportunity to use the gifts He gave me to glorify Him. I can look forward to the new opportunities that God presets me and be confident in stepping into the next roll he has planned for me.

For anyone out there struggling with something, whether its relationships, your career, just being generally unhappy with your life, I want you to know something. It’s going to be ok! It will pass. If there is anything that I have learned in my short 22 years on this earth, is that this is all temporary. My sport is temporary, my school career is temporary, a bad grade or a bad meet means nothing in the broad scope of the future.

While it’s important to love what you do and have passions and goals in life, just remember, it doesn’t define you. God defines you as a most perfect being worth of unconditional and unfathomable love. So what is my new ultimate goal in life? To serve those around me by loving and giving all I have to give. I’ve been given my talents and current place in life for a reason and I can’t wait to see what’s in store!

I can remember the day so clearly.

I had just started 6th grade.  I was worried about going to a new school with kids I hadn’t grown up with my whole life, learning how to use a locker, and trying out for sports.  I didn’t think I’d be worrying about a deadly illness that alters so many lives each year, each day, each second for that matter.

My mom hadn’t been feeling well for a while, but I figured it was nothing serious, until she went to the doctor and sat me down that evening.

She had cancer.

Stage 3 colon cancer to be exact. I am from Augusta, Georgia.  It’s a large town with a small town feel, if that makes sense.  Everyone knows everyone, well at least the parents do.  Life was happy there.  I grew up with an older sister to play with, a mom who loves me, and a dad who always tells me to be the free spirit I am.  Things aren’t always happy, though.

One-day life hits you in the gut so hard you think you might never catch your breath again.  For me, that was the day my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I didn’t believe her at first.  Sitting in her bathroom I sat there sobbing as she broke the news.  Sobbing because I was angry, because I didn’t understand why this happened to her, because it wasn’t fair.  She didn’t cry when she told me.  She was strong and sat there holding me.  That night after I finally got my emotions under control I realized I had to be strong for her.  She couldn’t do this on her own.

Stage 3 colon cancer is no joke.  Things were bad.  My mom was in her late 40s when she was diagnosed.  Most people don’t even get a colonoscopy until they are 50.  If my mom had waited that late, she wouldn’t be with me here today.

Death.

People shy away from it, don’t want to talk about it, dance around the word like actually talking about it will make it happen, but there it was staring me straight in the face. My mom’s cancer was advanced and it wasn’t the best scenario, but then again with cancer is there even a best scenario?  She was going to have to go through chemo and radiation as well as an intensive surgery.  And then even more chemo.

I can remember her barely being able to walk into the house because she was so exhausted from treatment, crawling into the garage because she was so fatigued. My mom didn’t give up.  She was more than this sickness.  She wasn’t going to let it cripple her and wither her away.  She never complained or said she was tired.  She was scared, terrified even, but she didn’t let it show because letting it show let the cancer win and that wasn’t happening.

I remember hearing a lot of things I didn’t understand, medical terms, all much too technical. To be honest, I didn’t really want to know what it all meant because I was scared one day someone would say she only has a year left, or a few months.

Before my mom had surgery, she went through 6 weeks of chemotherapy as well as radiation.  I could see how it drained her, sucked the life out of her, but she kept on going.

Then the day of the surgery came.

I remember being at the hospital.  I’ll never forget that sterile smell.  It burned my nose and made me feel sick to my stomach.  I sat in the waiting room with family and friends waiting…waiting for the doctors to come out and say your mom is fine, everything is ok.

That isn’t what happened.

It had been 8 grueling hours.  Each minute that went by I got more afraid. I couldn’t imagine my life without my mom.

I was supposed to be worried about boys and middle school drama but here I was worried about if I would ever hear her voice again.  I couldn’t imagine not having her look in my room every night and tell me she loved me and would see me in the morning, or tell me funny stories and laugh with me.  My mom’s laugh is so distinct.  It’s so loud and high pitched I could always pick it out of a crowd.

As I’ve gotten older I notice more and more that I laugh like her, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. The eighth hour came and doctors walked out and said if my mom stayed under any longer she probably wouldn’t survive.  We didn’t know what else to do but pray.  I remember standing there with hot tears streaming down my face beside my family and friends as we stood in a circle and began to hold hands and we prayed.

Prayed for her to live.

Prayed for her to be healthy and the cancer to go away.

Prayed for her not to leave us so soon.

I was so angry because I didn’t understand why God did this to her.  I realized, though, that it made my mom stronger, which is hard to believe that was even possible.  It made her stronger for the other events that were to happen to her later. They say rain makes trees grow deeper roots.  My mom grew deeper roots in all this rain and darkness.  She was still a guiding light.

She survived the surgery.  I remember seeing her after it. She had so many tubes feeding into her pale, frail body. I felt sick. I hated seeing her like that but at the same time I was just happy to see her breathing. See her chest moving up and down.  I can say that without her I wouldn’t be the person I am today and I probably wouldn’t be at the University of Georgia like I am now.

After my mom recovered from surgery, she had more chemotherapy.  The day finally came when she finished her last treatment and she went into remission. She is now cancer free 8 years, has run multiple 5ks and a half marathon, as well as receive two promotions at work. She was strong then and still is strong now.  The whole time I thought I was going to have to be strong for her because she needed me but it turned out she was strong for me and my family.

She never let the cancer stop her.  She didn’t let it weigh her down because if she had it would have consumed her. I remember her telling me the statistic when was diagnosed was that 1 in 4 people get cancer.  She looked at me and said “I got cancer but I hope I was the 1 out of the 4 members of our family to get it.” She would have rather her suffer than to see us suffer. I can not think of a greater amount of love and sacrifice than when she told me that.

After watching my mom’s battle and seeing her survive I have been a member for Relay For Life for many years.

I not only Relay for my mom, but my Granny and great-aunt Dot who survived breast cancer, my cousin Nick who is currently battling Leukemia, and my Pop who passed away from lung cancer my sophomore year of high school. It’s not just about the loved ones I know affected by cancer, though. It’s about everyone who was affected, is affected, will be affected.  It’s about having hope in a better tomorrow.

My mom had hope, and so do I. I have hope that there will be a day where there is a cure.  Until then I fight.  I fight for loved ones lost, for those currently battling, and for those who will battle. My mom never gave up, and neither will I. She taught me strength and courage, and she continues to do so everyday. She is a force that cannot be stopped and everything I aspire to be.

So I encourage you to sign up for Relay For Life, donate to someone’s page, or participate in a local Relay For Life event near you. Together we will finish the fight.

If you would like to donate to help me meet my fundraising goal here’s the link.

I was in Japan, walking toward the sunset above Lake Biwa, with a sticky rock in my hand. Senior year of high school I joined Teen Advisors, a Christian-based organization committed to helping freshmen handle stress, problems, and issues they might face in high school. 

Every fall, there’s a Teen Advisors retreat, and at that retreat, there were speakers who spoke about different issues. We were all instructed to carry around a tube sock that weekend, and if the issue the speaker talked about was something you struggled with, you could go up to the front and put rocks in your giant tube sock. One of the speakers talked about comparing yourself to others, which was the first time I realized I had been doing that for years up to that point. I went up to the front and put a bunch of rocks in my giant tube sock. The last night at the retreat, at Camp Lee in Alabama, we all met around a bonfire, spoke what was on our hearts and what we learned, and then all together, we threw our rocks into the lake.

It was symbolic, but it really felt like I had cast the weight away that had been holding me down.

That year, I ended up winning an essay contest that year that allowed me to attend a language school in Kyoto, Japan, for one month the summer before college.  That in itself is another story, a huge blessing, and a dream come true. So here I was, in the summer after my senior year, exploring Kyoto and the surrounding area by myself every day after class, before returning to my host family for dinner.

In my last week there, I traveled an hour and half by train away to Hikone, a town with a famous castle located next to Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake.  I never felt more disconnected from “home” – no one in the world knew where I was at this point in time. It was a thrilling adventure, but I felt isolated and exposed at the same time. Perhaps it was that fear that put me in a weakened state, but for some reason, something really got to me. A gang of elementary school-aged boys didn’t attack me, they were just goofing off across from me on the train.  They didn’t interact with me, but watching them made me self-conscious and think, “Why have I never been that way?”

I felt girly, and not boyish like them. I was home-schooled in elementary school because my dad was in the Army and we moved often. I had friends growing up, but in that moment, I felt like I never did.

I didn’t have that many friends because I didn’t go to school with classrooms of kids my age. And instead of a competitive, rowdy trouble-maker, I was more of a creative, imaginative, polite kid. I didn’t like soccer because you had to “steal” the ball. I liked baseball alright because I liked pretending to throw imaginary Pokéballs while mindlessly standing in the outfield.

There are different kinds of people, which is totally fine and good, but because I wasn’t like those Japanese boys on the train when I was their age, I felt less-than, lonely, and sad about my personality, questioning my own masculinity and identity as a man.

In Hikone, I walked around, saw the castle, ate a small orange wrapped in mochi, and walked through a zen garden, but I wasn’t at peace.

I started comparing myself to other guys my age back at home, about how I wasn’t as athletic as they were, or as manly as they were. The last point on my to-see list was Lake Biwa – straight ahead according to the map I had – straight ahead on a long sidewalk pointing right toward the setting, summer sun. Because of the sun’s brightness and my discouragement, I looked down as I walked.

There were no pieces of trash, no cracks in the sidewalk, nothing but pristine walkway– until I saw a single rock. I picked it up, and it was sticky. I thought about how ugly it was, and how it shouldn’t feel sticky. It grossed me out, and I thought to myself that I hated that rock. Then, I remembered the rocks I threw into the lake at Camp Lee. I kept it in my fist and kept walking, ready to throw the ugly thing into Lake Biwa with all my strength as if it were an imaginary Pokéball, and most importantly to renew my vow to not compare myself to others.

The edge of the lake was more like the edge of the ocean.  High winds and waves hit the concrete barrier between land and lake. A highlighted haze was a screen on the horizon, and I wondered if I could see the other side on a clear sunset.

I looked behind me at purple clouds in the sky. I took a lot of photos. And then I threw the rock into Lake Biwa.

It felt great to renew my resolution, and I started to feel better.  I was back home in about two hours, had dinner with my host family, and went to the bathroom afterwards.  In the bathroom, there was a daily calendar, with little drawings of manga-style monks and handwritten Japanese sayings. Out of the 28 days I was there, I could only read two or three of the messages.  But when I looked up at this message, I almost couldn’t believe it. After double-checking the verb on my phone’s dictionary, I translated its message: “Do not compare yourself to others.” The Bible says, “Don’t let your heart be troubled,” and for me, a big way to do that is to not compare myself to others.

I am a child of God, and He loves me just the way He made me – my asymmetrical eyelids, my dry chicken skin, my unique interests and talents, and my kind and gentle heart. God spoke that message to me at Lake Biwa, and three years later, whenever I go to a lake, I throw an ugly rock in it and renew my promise to not compare myself to others. I haven’t come across many other sticky rocks, but if I do, I throw it extra hard and wash my hand clean afterwards.