{"id":4091,"date":"2015-06-22T08:55:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T12:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/?p=4091"},"modified":"2015-06-22T08:55:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-22T12:55:07","slug":"2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cThe Climb\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

\"JordanS\"<\/a>

JordanS<\/p><\/div>\n

l’m sitting in class and it is completely silent. l’m terrified of silence. I get an urge, an urge so\u00a0powerful that I can physically feel it traveling through my body. My heart is pounding as I tell myself,\u00a0“Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” But I have no control. The sound comes out loud and clear. The next thing I\u00a0hear is giggling, snickering, mocking. I look around and I see cruel eyes glaring at me, burning holes in\u00a0my skin. I feel like a bug under a microscope. I have Tourette Syndrome.<\/p>\n

I’ve always thought of school as a battle ground; a place full of people who just don’t\u00a0understand. Weekday mornings were always a struggle. I didn’t want to go to school. I didn’t want to\u00a0feel inferior. I barely even understood my condition. All I knew was that I make noises and movements\u00a0that were unwanted, and everybody found them funny; but I didn’t find them funny. Every insult, dirty\u00a0look, and whisper knocked me down a little more, to the point where I couldn’t stick up for myself\u00a0because the bullies stole my last bit of self-esteem. For once, I wanted to fit in, to not be the oddball,\u00a0to be respected, to be understood. Most of all, to be accepted. Obviously, these wishes weren’t just\u00a0going to be handed over, that’s unfortunately not how the world works. My family and I wanted things\u00a0to be different; but we would have to make the difference ourselves.<\/p>\n

I decided, as a terrified ten year old, to educate the whole school on my condition. lt was\u00a0something I never thought I could do, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Each class\u00a0watched a movie explaining Tourette Syndrome, and then I went in and answered questions that they\u00a0had. Standing up in front of the first class, I had never been so nervous in my life. But as the day went\u00a0on, it got a little easier. I could feel confidence growing in me again. I could feel that fire; the fire that\u00a0was put out by the people who I once feared.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0just one day, I went from being taunted, to being admired. people are actually more\u00a0accepting than I could have ever imagined. The world is brighter than I ever thought it could be. That\u00a0day was so successful that I’ve done the same presentation all throughout middle school and high\u00a0school. I now have thicker skin, self confidence, and an amazing support system. I walk through school\u00a0with my head held high; which is a complete revolution from staring at my feet when I walk.<\/p>\n

It has been said that many kids with Tourette’s are musically inclined. It\u00a0was in sixth grade that I\u00a0finally had the confidence to be in talent shows. I remember being so nervous about the possibility of\u00a0having a tic on stage, but it was the exact opposite. As soon as I opened my mouth and sang, all of the\u00a0tics went away. lt was like magic. Those three minutes of “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus showed\u00a0everyone, including myself, that I am more\u00a0than just a girl with Tourette Syndrome” I am a senior in\u00a0high school now and I still haven’t stopped singing. I went from being “the girl with Tourette’s”\u00a0to “the\u00a0singer”. lt was a dream come true.<\/p>\n

Although having Tourette’s isn’t easy, l wouldn’t change it. I no longer see it as a flaw, it\u00a0makes\u00a0me, me. I realized that it’s not the nightmare that I thought it was. It\u00a0really has shaped me into the\u00a0person I am today. When a new problem arises in my life, it’s easier to handle because I’ve already\u00a0faced and conquered my biggest obstacle. I have finally accepted that my Tourette’s is a part of me.\u00a0However, it isn’t all of me; because I have Tourette’s but Tourette’s doesn’t have me.<\/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! l’m sitting in class and it is completely silent. l’m terrified… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[18,76,116,212,258,264,265,297,314],"yoast_head":"\n2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cThe Climb\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-the-climb\/\" \/>\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: \u201cThe Climb\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-the-climb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Teens4TS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-22T12:55:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JORDAN-STIMMELL-1-245x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JordanS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JordanS\" \/>\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-the-climb\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JordanS\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/#\/schema\/person\/2015afd4f1af4696fb5ee4566959b6ac\"},\"headline\":\"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cThe Climb\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-22T12:55:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-22T12:55:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/\"},\"wordCount\":700,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JORDAN-STIMMELL-1-245x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Acceptance\",\"Confidence\",\"Essays\",\"NJCTS\",\"Respect\",\"Scholarships\",\"School\",\"Support\",\"Tics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Teens\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2015-njcts-childrens-scholarship-award-essay-the-climb\/\",\"name\":\"2015 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \u201cThe Climb\u201d - 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