“I always enjoyed pushing myself physically. In 1966, there was a transit strike in New York City. I was living in the Bronx. It was a cold winter. I biked from the Bronx down to City College for my master’s degree throughout the entire strike…

“I had a kidney biopsy in January 2012, and they said at some point I would need a kidney transplant or dialysis…

“I’m originally from a tiny town called Quaker Street in upstate New York — it had one stop light, a general store, Quaker meeting house, a tavern and my grandfather’s diner. My parents owned the store in town, and we lived in an apartment over the store…

“I was an actress for many years before I became a nurse, but I always had this push to go into medicine…

“I’m a Long Island guy. I don’t claim to be from anywhere else. I graduated from Baldwin and from a kid, ‘Subway Art’ and ‘Aerosol Art’ and all those books, when those came out, I literally just looked at them all day long and studied them…

“I began my career after college in rehab counseling for New York City, a challenging situation with a 100-person caseload…

“I grew up on the island and I had a normal childhood. I graduated with honors from Albany’s business school in 2012. Everything was great and then I wound up having an injury in the gym…

“I was 16 when we suddenly had to call 911 for my mother. She had been ill for a while, but one day in our Sayville home, she just passed out on the floor…

“My husband, Steven, and I went to Oceanside High School together. He was dating a friend of mine. I knew of him, and he knew of me. We went to school in the ’90s. It was not usual for Italians, Irish or other Caucasians to date Spanish, much less Indian people…

“On the morning of September 11th, I worked on the 87th floor of One World Trade, north tower, at the May Davis Group, a retail investment banking firm…

“My mother and father were always for me being a firefighter, even though other people told me you have to be some kind of crazy to go into a burning building when everybody else is running out…

“I saw a video in 2014 about people helping to welcome babies with Down syndrome. I was shocked. The video says, ‘Welcome to the family. Welcome to the world.’ That’s when I realized that most parents of newborns with Down syndrome only hear, ‘I’m sorry.’…

“Tattooing kind of saved me from a pretty dark time in my life. My mom was diagnosed with cancer and passed away 10 years ago as I was starting to get into it…

“My mom had two young kids when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, which is typically found in children. Because of this, she was treated on the pediatric floor at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; her roommates and everyone on the floor were kids…

“I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and came here when I was 19 to study at Stony Brook University. I studied in the Department of Linguistics, and I was always interested in the science of language, how it sounds, I liked the research. I worked…

“I am a performer extraordinaire with 35 years in show business. It started when I was 5 and I became a competitive swimmer. I swam in three junior Olympics.’ My focus switched to gymnastics at the age of 7 when I discovered that I could throw my body…

“I was the first African-American woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in the field of radiochemistry. I didn’t set out to be the first, I didn’t know until after I defended my thesis. I wanted to be a medical doctor when I was growing up, a trauma…

“I have a charming, charismatic, understanding special needs son. He has a rare genetic disorder called Koolen-de Vries syndrome and it went diagnosed for 19 years. He has developmental delays and learning disabilities. He’s 28 now and Dr. Gail…

“My wife Kathy and I were getting ready to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in September 2014. That Labor Day, I got a cold and my wife caught it from me, but she got a cough. She went to the doctor; they did chest x-rays and saw something there…

“It was her first birthday party when I gave my daughter a piece of cake for the first time. Within minutes she had hives from her eyelids to her toes. The doctor tested her for egg allergies and he said, ‘Egg allergies rarely travel alone.’ It took…

“Growing up gay in the ’90s wasn’t always the most welcoming situation. It helped galvanize me to be a voice and make a difference in many different causes. I work in communications, and I’ve been lucky enough to support organizations…

“”My mother had to get an emergency C-section after realizing I wasn’t moving in the womb. It turned out my umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck. I only had about a half-hour to survive, so the C-section was done immediately, less than…

“I moved to Long Island 30 years ago and got actively involved in the Sikh Gurudwara in Plainview. Diversity awareness and outreach are always a great challenge for immigrant communities, irrespective of their ethnic and religious background…

“For most people around here, on Long Island and Massapequa in general, we spend our summers at the beach. It’s a way for us to be there all day, every day. I started lifeguarding when I was 16 at Bethpage Pool. The pool is a lot calmer…

“I grew up with a fraternal twin brother who is skinny. People were always comparing us. From day one he was smaller, and then he was taller and blonde, so we looked nothing alike. He never struggled with being picked on for being fat; I was…

“It was a constant struggle growing up in a religious home, wanting to be an entertainer despite my parents wishing I’d become a leader in the ministry. It was alcohol that became my avenue to escape both the difficulties of…

“I loved being known as the piano man. Music created a home for me where I felt noticed when I didn’t at home. I’d take every opportunity I could to play piano for my middle school’s chorus. The school musical took up most of my…

“Mollie, our daughter, was 20 years old and a sophomore in college when she discovered a mole high on her thigh. She called us from school because she was alarmed. It was bleeding through her pants and, not having a background in…

“I left “Corporate America” in 2008 and moved back to Greenport, the village where I grew up. It called me back, as I missed the small town feel but knew I wouldn’t miss the hour-and-a-half commute I was making from Brooklyn to Manhattan…

“Like every other teenager, I was on my phone a lot during quarantine and my mom threatened to throw it out the window if I didn’t get off of it. I was on the social media site TikTok and I scrolled to the next video and I saw somebody…

“As a science teacher and research scientist in Brentwood Union Free School District, I’ve dedicated 20 years of my career to getting more people of color involved in the sciences, to be the voice of change and the ones moving the legislation…

“I’m an Armenian American, and a lot of my work in the arts has been connected to the Armenian genocide and recognition of it in the U.S. My grandfather was a child survivor and became a famous cubist impressionist painter in Cairo, Egypt, where…

“I’ve always loved to perform. I’ve played piano, sung, acted and danced. I’m not sure why it started, but in the ninth-grade I started having bad anxiety attacks. I didn’t know that’s what they were at first. I thought I was going crazy…

“Since I was a little kid, I loved coloring books and drawing superheroes. I didn’t take art classes until I was at Walt Whitman High School. I would get into a lot of fights because I moved to Huntington from Queens at 10, and the places…

“As a kid, one of my favorite movies was “Pirates of the Caribbean.” I knew every line, I would dress up as the characters, and I’d act out the movie. However, it was in dance class that my family realized I was born to be on stage……

“In 1967, I applied to the Peace Corps and was assigned to teach English in Ethiopia. I didn’t go, but I sometimes wondered what I missed out on. When I retired in 2003 at 57 as an elementary school principal, I was accepted to a program called……

“I was a child actor in local theater, and what I loved most about it was being in rooms of like-minded weirdoes who felt like they didn’t fit in. Everyone was able to come together and enjoy telling stories. I certainly felt “othered”……

“When I was growing up, being open and yourself was not always accepted. My childhood in Babylon Village was a process of self-discovery, and I didn’t even know what being queer looked like. I knew I was different but didn’t understand……

“I’m a mom from Long Island. I have three kids and they’re all pretty much a year apart. Paige was always my wild one. She was my number three and I let her do what she did. I let her beat to her own drum. She wore whatever she wanted……

“The fire happened on the morning of March 29. I had been feeding cats in the backyard and some had kittens. I let some in the house. I was able to get a mother cat and three kittens out because they were close to the door. A police officer saved…

“We got Kody in the summer of 2013. I refer to him as my firstborn. He’s my fur baby. This was the first dog that I had as an adult living on my own with my husband, and my husband never had a dog growing up. We worked together good…

“I was a chubby kid and gained weight after my daughter was born. It was never a problem for me until a year after my son was born. I’d gained so much weight that a pizza delivery guy asked me when I was going to have the baby…

“I come from a family of nurses, so I guess it’s kind of in the blood. It probably goes back to my grandmother. She had nine children, lived in a small county called Mayo in Ireland and helped deliver babies and care for the sick…

“I decided at the age of 6 that I wanted to be a doctor because there were only two black doctors that everybody knew on Long Island. In my junior year of medical school, despite honors classes and being on the dean’s list, the pre-med…

“My dad was a huge influence on me. He was a teacher in Brentwood for 28 years. He was an inspiration to a lot of students and he was always encouraging me to write. We’d see a movie together and he’d say, ‘You can’t write anything better…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“I came from a family of educators, specifically teachers, principals and administrators. Because of that influence, the importance of education was instilled within me…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“When I got to college, things changed. It was a period of self-discovery…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“My daughter Cadence is 15 and suffers from a rare condition, FoxG1 syndrome, a neurological disorder that makes her non-verbal and…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“The food is Salvadorian staples, pupusas, eggs, plantains. Everything is homemade. My parents came here in 1977 or 1978, they were from…

“I was really excited about 2020. I had cool jobs lined up, like performing in ‘Legally Blonde’ as Paulette, but they were completely decimated…

“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…

“We found out I was pregnant in March of 2017. Everything was going pretty good. There were no indications anything was wrong. When…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…