I didn’t start talking until I was two. By age five I wrote backwards, replaced reason with dreams, and spoke out of turn. When I was twelve, I wrote a story that was so outlandish, my teacher demanded I write a new one. Naturally, I refused and was forced by the principal to write, “I will not be insubordinate” fifty times. When I wrote the last line it read, “I will board the sub with new coordinates.” Needless to say, another fifty repetitions were doled out to me.

 

Not much has changed since then. The only difference is now I’ve learned how to be defiant in a positive way. Foregoing conventional approaches, I put forth my wildest ideas, nurture them, and then ship them off to be the most interesting people at the party.  Over the last eleven years I’ve celebrated sick days, turned up the heat on MS injections, and literally made a new school of thought for IH. Just to name a few. In case you were wondering, I refuse to stop creating new ideas that shake things up. It’s intrinsically part of who I am. “I will board the sub with new coordinates.”