My Inspiration

With lacrosse pre-season already in full-swing, I can hardly contain my excitement for the first game and the rest of the season. Our favorite assistant coach from last year, K.C White is now our head coach. She brought with her Coach Gus, a new, odd, yet energetic and optimistic assistant varsity coach. Beginning monday, their coaching quote for the week is "pain is fear leaving the body". This quote exemplifies our grueling conditioning and muscle soreness as a result of our hard work. However, none of us have experienced as much pain and setbacks as Coach White.

She was born with Cystic Fibrosis (CF),an inherited disease that causes thick, sticky mucous to build up in the lungs and digestive tract. It is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and young adults, and may result in early death. This mucous builds up in the breathing passages of the lungs and in the pancreas, the organ that helps break down and absorb food. This collection of sticky mucous results in life-threatening lung infections and serious digestion problems. Millions of Americans carry the defective gene but do not have any symptoms, It is the most common, deadly, inherited disorder affecting caucasians in the United States.

Each day, Coach White spends about three hours on a machine which vibrates her lungs to loosen up the mucous build-up. She lives a life of uncertainty, not knowing when there will be a cure, or how much longer she has to live. Her positive outlook on life has really impacted me. She really puts life in perspective for me, because I often take my life for granted and fail to realize how lucky I am to be healthy.