"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." Maya Angelou. Often times in life we face many challenges that are inevitably not in our control. We either have the choice to allow the challenges to dictate our future and our perception of ourselves, or we can use it to help us grow. A challenge in my life that I couldn't control, but didn't let it reduce me was my birth defect Pierre Robin Sequence.
Ever since I was young I have always participated in the speaking arena. When I was in kindergarten, I recall singing a solo and being chosen to read a piece to students almost three times my age. However, I was also attending speech therapy lessons with a speech pathologist. For those who are unaware, Pierre Robin Sequence is a birth defect that causes infants to be born with an underdeveloped jaw, small tongue that falls to the back of the mouth, and sometimes cleft lip and or palate. When I was younger I never comprehended the seriousness of my condition, and the societal view of it. However, as I transitioned to middle school, and began to read up on it, I began to develop a low self-esteem with my speaking. I would always over analyze what I said and how I said it whenever I would converse with people, and would focus
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By that time I was already involved with my school's speech team, but still dealt with the underlying issue of low self-esteem. The teacher at the end of the semester had my peers vote for who they believe were the class "Best Female Speaker" and "Best Male Speaker". I told myself that if I won, I would share with the class my story of being born with Pierre Robin Sequence. My peers voted me as the class’ "Best Female Speaker". This “small” recognition made me realize the potential that I had, and cause me to develop a confidence within myself that I never had