{"id":4080,"date":"2015-06-17T09:15:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T13:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/?p=4080"},"modified":"2015-06-17T09:15:12","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T13:15:12","slug":"2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cLike Holding in a Sneeze\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS<\/strong><\/a>) for their 2015 Children\u2019s Scholarship Award contest. I hope you enjoy it!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"MichaelL\"<\/a>

MichaelL<\/p><\/div>\n

Even as a child, I felt different. I would often undergo a momentary sensation that my whole\u00a0world was about to end, and a split second later would experience deep mental clarity. I learned\u00a0to call these moments “ticks,” and lived with a constant aura of discomfort that followed me\u00a0everywhere and interjected itself into every social situation. Trying to control a tick is like trying\u00a0to hold in a sneeze from when you wake up in the morning until you fall asleep at night. I\u00a0became quiet and withdrawn, avoiding one-on-one conversations and any sort of eye contact\u00a0because I didn’t want to risk someone noticing my ticks.<\/p>\n

At the age of 13, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. I had suspected that my impulses\u00a0had a name, but when the Doctor said “Tourette’s” I immediately thought of people randomly\u00a0yelling curse words, which was not me. To leam the name of my neurological disorder made me\u00a0sad, for its name alone meant lots of doctors for years to come. However, it also gave me hope\u2014because I thought maybe, since medicine had a name for it, there might also be help available for\u00a0people like me.<\/p>\n

Shortly after my diagnosis, we were on a family vacation when my nine year-old sister threw a\u00a0tantrum. She was having trouble solving a Rubik’s Cube. To quiet her down, I picked up the\u00a0cube and taught myself how to solve it. Before I knew it, I was hooked. I practiced every day,\u00a0and within a few months I was good enough to compete in Rubik’s Cube tournaments. Soon\u00a0enough, no one seemed to notice or care about my ticks; they were only interested in my speed\u00a0and accuracy. My personal best solve time is 11 seconds. I have competed at places like\u00a0Princeton and Harvard, and I participated in the U.S. National Championships earlier this year.\u00a0Among hundreds of kids in competition, I have consistently finished in the top 100. I even\u00a0started a Rubik’s Cube Club at my high school. I can solve a Rubik’s Cube with one hand and\u00a0am working on solving it blindfolded. I have realized that for me, solving a Rubik’s cube is akin\u00a0to solving the puzzle of my Tourette’s through medicine, therapy, and sheer determination.<\/p>\n

Living with Tourette’s is not easy. Ticks can interrupt anything I do, from shaving to raising my\u00a0hand in Calculus to introducing myself to someone for the first time. These moments can be\u00a0overwhelming and unpredictable. Sometimes reading a book can take twice as long as it should.\u00a0Virtually every task requires a little more thought and a little planning. But I refuse to let\u00a0Tourette’s stop me. My diagnosis has helped me discover my strengths, giving me confidence\u00a0when I need it most. Over the objection of my parents, I made the decision to refuse any\u00a0classroom accommodations to which I was entitled under law. I had to prove to myself that I\u00a0can\u00a0do anything anyone else can do; I just have to work harder at it.<\/p>\n

Yes I have Tourette’s Syndrome, but I am also logical, hard-working, and determined – and my\u00a0future is bright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) for their 2015 Children\u2019s Scholarship Award contest. I hope you enjoy it! Even as a child, I felt different. I would often undergo… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":495,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[76,116,212,264,314],"yoast_head":"\n2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cLike Holding in a Sneeze\u201d - Teens4TS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) for their 2015 Children\u2019s Scholarship Award\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cLike Holding in a Sneeze\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) for their 2015 Children\u2019s Scholarship Award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Teens4TS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-17T13:15:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Lapolla-Michael-2015-480x640-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MichaelL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MichaelL\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MichaelL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/#\/schema\/person\/b7cd19c805ba44ddce40d45bbf8f5471\"},\"headline\":\"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cLike Holding in a Sneeze\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-17T13:15:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-17T13:15:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/\"},\"wordCount\":574,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Lapolla-Michael-2015-480x640-225x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Confidence\",\"Essays\",\"NJCTS\",\"Scholarships\",\"Tics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Teens\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-like-holding-in-a-sneeze\/\",\"name\":\"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cLike Holding in a Sneeze\u201d - 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