Every person is unique. Everyone has their own special abilities and personalities. Their own special weaknesses and strengths are what make them shine among the crowd and represent the sun. I am unique because I have a lot of determination, concrete views about Cerebral Palsy, am as creative as an artist, like planning things and telling stories in my head, imagine strange and unbearable things and joke about them, love colors and digital art, remember some things extremely easily than others, have certain reactions toward songs and music in general, and last but not least control my actions based on the past and not the present.

First of all, I devote my determination to my parents. Since the time I was born, they have promoted me to not give up and to push myself as much as possible. Despite all of the complications at my birth, they have trusted me to overcome all of the obstacles which I will encounter throughout my life. I took that responsibility since my early childhood and will continue to embrace it throughout my life.

I think about Cerebral Palsy and the effects it has in my life almost everyday. It usually happens when I am alone and have heard something which made me think about it. Sometimes I think about it in a negative way and other times in a positive way depending on what triggered me to think about it. When I am sad, I think how much it has made my life difficult than other people. However, when I am optimistic I think that CP is just another obstacle to jump over and a challenge to overcome like taking all honors classes. Also, most people tend to have more respect for people who have disabilities. For example, when I got my middle school graduation certificate, I heard more people clapping for me than any other 8th grader. At first I thought that “What’s all of the enthusiasm about? Everyone needs to graduate from middle school someday, right?” Then I realized that it has been harder for me than any other child and there is a chance that I wouldn’t have gone to school at all.

Apart from my diagnosis, I am a very active thinker. One of my favorite pastimes is to let my memories jump back to life in my head. I think about sad moments, funny moments, scary moments – all sorts of things. When each of these memories reappear in my head, they bring back a different emotion. I use them to plan for the future. Sometimes I joke about the worst ones happening again, even when I can bet a million dollars that they won’t. In addition, I play my favorite memories over and over again whenever I feel like and know that I will remember those moments in my life forever without even trying to remember them. I mostly revisit these at night, waiting to fall asleep, or in the car while listening to some songs. Certain types of songs have the power to speak to me and calm me down when I am thinking of something very miserable. They make me dance and enjoy life as it is. They make some of my thoughts turn to beautiful images in my head with vibrant colors and gradients. Drawing them is one way to share them with the rest of the world. Since, I have a hard time drawing on paper, I think of different ways to portray them digitally. On the computer, I can make the images the exact colors I want. I usually work on them in the night when my brain is too tired to do anything else. As a result, I enjoy it so much that while my parents watch TV, I prefer to work on them. Hopefully, all of these extraordinary characteristics will make me shine bright like golden treasure in a cave.