Tuesday, December 15, 2015 was cold and gloomy. It was the day of my macroeconomics and microeconomics final. It was also the day I checked into urgent care at Good Samaritan Hospital. I was diagnosed with lupus in the fall of 2013. Doctor’s visits had become routine ever since. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder with a wide range of symptoms due to its systemic nature. The most debilitating, for me, were the pain, nausea, and migraine. Knowing I will be suffering for the rest of my life, I completely lost faith in my ability to achieve anything in life. I dropped my classes that semester and eventually failed my classes the semester after. That summer, my baby cousin, Kevin, became terminal as his cancer metastasized. But he kept fighting and
