My STory
Growing up, my childhood was surrounded by hockey. Living in Upstate New York, I had an ice rink in my backyard where I would skate and play hockey with my friends outside of my club team practices and games. I had consistent stomach problems since birth that seemed to get much worse and around fifth grade, I noticed something wasn’t right. I was getting sick frequently and my parents were concerned. Through many tests with specialty doctors, it was discovered that I had Hirschsprung’s disease. Hirschsprung’s disease is when you are born without nerve endings in your colon. I was tested and had to miss months of school for a much-needed surgery. For the surgery that I had, I was placed in a trial study to place a permanent port and infusion line directly into my colon. Thankfully for myself, it was successful and after some time away from school and sports, I was able to return.
Through this tough time, something else came out of it for me, another love… art. My mom got me a “learn to draw” book while I was in Boston Children’s Hospital and my love grew. I was drawing everything from animals to athletes and sports. As I grew up, my love went from paper and pencil to the computer and Adobe Photoshop. I created “commitment” graphics for high school athletes committed to college as well as found an internship to continue my passion of graphic design. I interned for the PGA of Northeast New York for two summers running their social media pages and creating graphics.
My goal is to inspire people with my story and graphic design. I want to use this as motivation to others because despite the obstacles that I faced, I was resilient, persevered and not only grew my love for sports but found another passion in graphic design. Never say never and never quit, anything is possible.