“When I was a kid, words that were used to describe me were just words and they had no power over me. I grew up in Astoria, the epicenter of diversity. I got to just be me. Nobody thought twice about somebody assigned female…
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“When I was 6 years old, I started to limp. My mother’s friend’s son had Legg-Calve-Perthes disease and pointed us in the right direction to a specialist, where I was diagnosed with the disease, where the blood supply…
READ STORY“My entire life has revolved around planes. My dad used to work at JFK, and after work he would take me to see planes taking off and landing. That led me to Purdue University to study aerospace engineering. I want to be…
READ STORY“2015 was hard. I was diagnosed with an unruptured brain aneurysm at age 35 after attending a 5k honoring a friend’s sister, who had passed away of a ruptured brain aneurysm. Multiple doctors had told me nothing was wrong…
READ STORY“I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when I was 18 months old. I wasn’t hitting my milestones physically, and it prompted an evaluation. After the diagnosis, my mom began to enroll me in early intervention services. I had physical…
READ STORY“Eli was born in April 2019 and at first everything seemed normal. Shortly thereafter, we just sensed that something didn’t feel right. Doctors said it’s colic or he’ll outgrow this. On July 4th, 2019, I took him to the hospital…
READ STORY“I never planned on becoming a teacher let alone teach watercolors. For my entire professional life, I had my own marketing and advertising agency. I had longed to be creative so I designed my own line of greeting…
READ STORY“I’ve been a funeral director for more than 35 years. The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most challenging times ever for funeral directors. It felt like a combination of September 11th and the AIDS crisis; this was…
READ STORY“I have always been singing, but it was in 8th-grade that I got the lead role in a play and I thought, ‘Oh, this is interesting.’ That same year I competed in my middle school’s ‘Berner Idol’ and I won…
READ STORY“In November 2019, I found out I was pregnant. But my new OBGYN in Commack said I wasn’t pregnant. He said I have a “molar pregnancy,” which is a noncancerous tumor in the uterus that comes after a nonviable…
READ STORY“I love being a geriatrician. For me, geriatric medicine is not just the care of older adults and vulnerable people; it’s the care of families as a whole. We help people navigate through complex health systems…
READ STORY“Singing is such a part of human existence. There is no culture on earth that does not sing. We have this drive to make music with our voices. I think in young people it’s especially pronounced…
READ STORY“I was not a particularly sociable young man. Theater and being able to play piano was a way for me to not ‘literally’ communicate with people, but to still communicate with people. I felt really uncomfortable…
READ STORY“Rockettes wasn’t something I ever thought about doing. At the time, they were trying to diversify more. They were having workshops geared toward minorities. I went to these workshops where you…
READ STORY“My mother dabbled in art, so I was interested as a kid, but I never took an art class. I didn’t start drawing until I was in college and I did one charcoal drawing when I had spare…
READ STORY“I teach the Comsewogue High School choir, direct plays and musicals at the school and I’m the girls’ varsity cross country coach. The mindset required to become skilled at a sport or in music are…
READ STORY“I was always struck how people with substance issues were misunderstood, stigmatized or viewed as a caricature by the community at large and by medical providers. As I started to…
READ STORY“I always wanted to be a teacher since I was little. I’m one of six children and we had one TV, so we had no choice but to make up games and we always played school. I got my teaching degree…
READ STORY“Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of empathy towards children. There was a lack of love. I became very depressed. I didn’t feel heard or valued. I would go to school and keep my head down…
READ STORY“I grew up in India and I had a knack for biological sciences, I completed my master’s in Zoology, and I was ready to venture ahead. My dream was to come to America and do research…
READ STORY“I have an auditory processing disorder. It was a challenge socially and academically and also because I couldn’t hear in my right ear, I’m deaf in that ear. It was very hard…
READ STORY“Our wedding was amazing, but as we planned it, we would meet photographers and DJs who’d ask, ‘Is that legal in New York? You do that there?’ We had conflict with family who were…
READ STORY“During infancy, my parents — having noticed my not responding to noise — consulted doctors until they could find one that agreed with their suspicions. It was recommended…
READ STORY“My husband, Raghu, and I were friends for many years before getting married. We met at a church in Queens. I would call him for good chai recipes because he was known…
READ STORY“I suddenly found myself trying to figure out how to teach. When I was 16, I gave drum lessons to third graders over the summer to prepare them for the fourth-grade band. I would teach my…
READ STORY“I’m a third-generation preacher. I follow in the footsteps of my father and grandfather. I did church planting and parish work for years, but in 2010, I felt I needed to get back into chaplaincy…
READ STORY“I’m an artist and I have been designing one-of-a-kind jewelry since 2003. I transitioned to full-time almost six years ago after leaving the corporate world. I sell my work by…
READ STORY“I got into magic because I was terrible at sports as a kid. I remember playing with cards and coins and reading books about the history of magic. I was one of those kids who didn’t want…
READ STORY“I’m a substance abuse counselor. I’ve been doing this for 12 years. I’ve been clean from drugs and alcohol for over 13 years. The first time I remember using alcohol was just past my…
READ STORY“I came from a family of educators, specifically teachers, principals and administrators. Because of that influence, the importance of education was instilled within me…
READ STORY“Maggie didn’t want to be known as the girl with cancer. It’s odd she got struck by this. We wonder how and why all the time. She was 16 when she was diagnosed…
READ STORY“When I was a kid, I drew a lot in my spare time and my Mom took me to a community arts center in Sayville. It was a great place, and I had this teacher…
READ STORY“One of the misconceptions about people who are transgender is that it’s a lifestyle choice. I laugh inside. A lifestyle choice is I’m going to move to…
READ STORY“I went on my first diet when I was 10. I weighed 110 pounds and I was ‘supposed to’ weigh 90. The doctor made it sound like a dire situation. I’ve been told throughout…
READ STORY“My uncle tells a story about me being 3 years old and not leaving until he put on The Beatles. If he skipped a song, I would know it. I remember…
READ STORY“I never had a focus in high school or college. There was never something I wanted to do. I knew I needed money and wanted some sort of stability for myself before…
READ STORY“At 14, I got into the restaurant business. I started as a dishwasher, moved my way to a busboy, and eventually became a waiter. I fell in love with the industry…
READ STORY“I was diagnosed with meningitis at 3 weeks old, and from that I developed hydrocephalus, which is a build-up of spinal fluid in your brain. Everything…
READ STORY“Special Olympics is the only place Zach can go and see people with Down syndrome. I’ve never seen such a competitive streak in him since he started playing. As…
READ STORY“I am a retired New York City Police Department Sergeant and currently a Police Science/EMT instructor. I started with the NYPD in the 79 in Bedford-Stuyvesant…
READ STORY“I had a miscarriage at two months. It was traumatic. The first thing people say to you is, ‘It’s so common.’ Despite that, almost nobody talks about it. The whole…
READ STORY“I’m a college baseball coach and my season was canceled due to COVID-19. People can sulk or use this opportunity to help others. I decided I can’t just sit home…
READ STORY“Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a genetic condition which affects the collagen in your body. My joints are loose, and things pop out easily because…
READ STORY“I decided to get my master’s in education because I had reverse motivation. When I was growing up, I had a teacher who wasn’t good, and I always thought I could be a…
READ STORY“At 26 years old I was in college, I was working full time, had mutual funds and I was saving to buy my own home. My mother died. She taught me…
READ STORY“I finished my sophomore year, and nothing had panned out in terms of internships. Other people were completing internships and I felt like I was wasting my time. I had been…
READ STORY“At the age of 3, Ryan was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder. At the time, I didn’t realize that PDD was autism. When my son was 4, I wasn’t sure what his abilities…
READ STORY“I remember the moment I first laid eyes on her. I was in my final clinical rotation for occupational therapy school at Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County. She was walking across…
READ STORY“I was working at a vaccine clinic upstate when a woman brought Tucker in and mentioned that he was going to wind up in the shelter that night. She said that she found him 2 miles…
READ STORY“The Year of Living Dangerously is a movie that is on my top 50 list. However, I would call 2020 the year of hitting a brick wall. I have lived in a nursing and…
READ STORY“Our daughter was born on Nov. 8, 2019 — the best day of our lives. Everything was storybook perfect for the first five weeks. December 15, that’s when every parent’s…
READ STORY“I’m very proud to be Shinnecock. My mom studied American history at Dartmouth and my mom is involved in my education. She would review all of my curricula…
READ STORY“When I got to college, things changed. It was a period of self-discovery…
READ STORY“My husband and I grew up modestly and we didn’t have anything handed to us. We felt like our son Andrew had to learn the value of a dollar. We told him…
READ STORY“My son was born with Cavernous Transformation of the Portal Vein (CTPV). Oxygen wasn’t getting to Gary’s liver, so a part of it died. Because of this his spleen is enlarged…
READ STORY“I have mast cell disease, a rare hematological/immunological disease. I had a stem cell transplant in July 2015, using my stem cells. It wipes out…
READ STORY“After college, I was first a pharmaceutical rep. We learned about the human brain and narcissism. I was married at that time, with two young…
READ STORY“Joe and I met in our first-grade classroom, room 108 at Albany Avenue School in Farmingdale School District. I remember telling him I had a…
READ STORY“I was incarcerated at 19 due to a family member’s mental health crisis, a serious family violence tragedy. Before that, I was this college student…
READ STORY“l left ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ on Broadway having no idea what was ahead of us with the pandemic. At the beginning of it all, I did this thing with…
READ STORY“I started doing wildlife photography. I thought it would help with my anxiety and other developmental disabilities. I was a very shy, timid person. I always had a passion…
READ STORY“Larry was born with a congenital condition of his right arm. He woke up with a lump in his armpit. It was really bothering him. We were worried…
READ STORY“I didn’t start out as a drug addict. I was a scholarship athlete and I went to culinary school. Then I had an accident in 1994 and had numerous…
READ STORY“People assume someone’s college choice is a reflection of their intelligence and their abilities; I know it’s more than that. My top college choices were out of my family’s…
READ STORY“I learned early on what racism was because I was bullied for being Chinese in elementary school. It was very difficult, because I would tell…
READ STORY“I instantly connected with the ‘Harry Potter’ series because I loved the fantasy aspect of it. When I was 9, I picked up the first book and couldn’t…
READ STORY“I’m a member of the medical staff at Rikers Island, and in my spare time, I trap cats there for TNR – trap, neuter, return. I have worked there for…
READ STORY“I am a very specific type. Because of who I am and what I look like, there’s not much out there. The last theater gig I got was the Off-Broadway…
READ STORY“When I was born, I was a big baby. Like 9 pounds. And the doctors at that time, they used forceps. The doctor, instead of pulling my neck, he pulled…
READ STORY“My daughter Cadence is 15 and suffers from a rare condition, FoxG1 syndrome, a neurological disorder that makes her non-verbal and…
READ STORY“I had it myself in March and after seven days in, I was asking, ‘Why am I not getting better?’ I kept coughing. I felt so short of breath…
READ STORY“In 2004, I had completely debilitating exhaustion and blaring headaches where I would see spots. I was diagnosed with lesions on my brain. It was…
READ STORY“My mom and I always joke that it was from the womb. She danced until she was eight months pregnant with me. From what they’ve told me, I always had…
READ STORY“My friend’s father had a video camera, and through playing with it I taught myself filmmaking. If it wasn’t for him, I would never have known…
READ STORY“When I was growing up, I always had dogs. I lived in various parts of London and I would take my dogs to the park and run them off leash. There was no…
READ STORY“My mom was 16 when she had me and I grew up in poor sections of Glen Cove. My mom has limited education. She was also addicted to drugs…
READ STORY“The food is Salvadorian staples, pupusas, eggs, plantains. Everything is homemade. My parents came here in 1977 or 1978, they were from…
READ STORY“I was really excited about 2020. I had cool jobs lined up, like performing in ‘Legally Blonde’ as Paulette, but they were completely decimated…
READ STORY“My parents would do the snowbird thing where they’d be here most of the year and then in winter, they’d have the warmth of India. My kids…
READ STORY“We found out I was pregnant in March of 2017. Everything was going pretty good. There were no indications anything was wrong. When…
READ STORY“My parents divorced when I was young; it was a messy situation for both of them. I decided to play sports to keep me active and mentally focused…
READ STORY“I noticed at a young age that I was a visual learner. I was really bad at school, wasn’t gifted in that way, but I would turn projects…
READ STORY“At 12 years old, I taught myself how to play piano. I always loved music. In the ninth grade, I played keyboard and sang in my first band, Blitzkrieg. At around 19…
READ STORY“I like to say that cooking is the love language of our family. My parents, especially my dad, loves cooking. He has the ability to know through…
READ STORY“I grew up in suburban Chicago as a disabled, queer person, who was an actor. I understood that I was disabled because I had to deal with surgeries…
READ STORY“I was in business school at NYU and decided to graduate a semester early. I had a ton of loans so starting work was the practical, realistic choice…
READ STORY“I’ve always had an eye for radio and television. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in school, and I was a little intimidated growing up…
READ STORY“Eventually, you let the universe choose for you and I think that’s why I became a teacher and, later, an EMT as well. More than 25 years ago…
READ STORY“When I came to the U.S. from India in 2011, I had my own image of what it would be like. I had no idea! I was 21 and I came with my entire family…
READ STORY“My mom is an immigrant from Colombia and my dad is an American, so I grew up in both cultures. But I didn’t always have a connection to culture. Being bicultural, I want to…
READ STORY“My ex and I had a dachshund and we inadvertently created a monster out of her. She constantly had to be near me. We thought it was adorable, but we created a lot of separation anxiety…
READ STORY“I grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn until I was 18 and my parents moved us to Long Island, which was a little bit of a shock to the system. Every summer, I used to go to YMCA…
READ STORY“I was home when I got the phone call. My doctor said it was good news and bad news. I knew the bad news, but the doctor said the good news is we got it at an early…
READ STORY“My great grandparents had a bakery in Costa Rica and I grew up with my mother baking cakes as a little girl. I started my baking business at 30 when I was living in…
READ STORY“My significant other passed away unexpectedly in October 2019, and my goal was to find a stable home for my 16-year-old son and my 5-year-old daughter. We stayed with my sister…
READ STORY“Bear is turning 6 and he was born with spinal muscular atrophy. When we found out Erin was pregnant, we were having twin boys, but one of the pregnancies didn’t continue and…
READ STORY“We met through mutual friends from AA. At that point, I was a little shy of 8 years sober. We wound up getting our own…
READ STORY“For 30 years, it seems that any time I have ever done anything within the theater I have been the one to be asked to dress in drag. Seven years ago…
READ STORY“We were coming home from a rock concert and were about a mile from our house when we got hit head on by a young woman. She was doing about 60. We were…
READ STORY“My dad got sick out of nowhere. He started losing a ton of weight. He started to get weak. I found out he had stage 4 lung cancer. Three weeks later…
READ STORY“Our experience using a known donor has been very positive because he’s an amazing person and he’s made the whole process very stressless. There did come a lot of unexpected things…
READ STORY“I started a boutique at the beginning of the pandemic when I had more time. My daughter Zoe is a kindergartner and she’s super creative…
READ STORY“About two-and-a-half years ago, my brother passed away very unexpectedly at age 34. I’m 34 now and next month I will surpass him…
READ STORY“For my 16th birthday, my parents bought me my first camera. So, I started taking a lot of pictures. And I loved music. I was seeing…
READ STORY“I have hearing loss, which I knew about since I was 6 years old. I was wearing hearing aids and knew about the batteries and my older…
READ STORY“They found out in second grade that I couldn’t see well. They gave me a special kind of desk that was on a slant so I would…
READ STORY“I grew up in Trinidad and my grandma was this strong woman who would put you in your place in two seconds. We’d go hunting…
READ STORY“I lost most of my family to cancer. I lost my brother to brain cancer and my father to CJD, the human form of mad cow…
READ STORY“I went to the circus and said, ‘Can I be a clown?’ They said, ‘You can be an usher.’ And that’s how I started, at the very bottom. But I had…
READ STORY“I was 20 weeks pregnant and went to my regular OBGYN and they told me the baby’s not cooperating, you have to go somewhere with better…
READ STORY“We came to the United States in 2001, when I was 9 years old. We migrated from Argentina, like many immigrants, following that American dream…
READ STORY“I had a tire shop in Glen Cove and I was looking to do something else. I was getting bored. I was at my friend’s house and his wife came outside with…
READ STORY“I found out when he was nine months old and my mother was watching him. I was working and she called me up and said, ‘I think you better…
READ STORY“We went to the Garden of Eve Chickapalooza and that’s how we got our first chickens. You pay $10 for the class and got a free…
READ STORY“I call it my ‘hijab story.’ I am a visibly Muslim American woman because I wear the hijab, which is a scarf that I wear on my head as part…
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