{"id":4928,"date":"2017-05-10T13:40:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T13:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/?p=4928"},"modified":"2018-03-22T20:42:42","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T20:42:42","slug":"2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: “How Tourette Syndrome has Played a Part in My Life”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS<\/strong><\/a>) for their 2017 Youth Scholarship Award contest. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Nicholas A.<\/p><\/div>\n

When I was in kindergarten, my home was full of stress. I don’t remember\u00a0actually knowing why, I just knew my home was different than others. I had a\u00a0younger brother being diagnosed with Autism, parents who didn’t get along, and\u00a0my mother was battling cancer. Needless to say, things were a bit stressful.<\/p>\n

It\u00a0started with just slightly shaking my head, and eventually over the course of the\u00a0year, progressed to also making musical noises with the head shaking. I wasn’t\u00a0aware that people were noticing it until I got to third grade. My friend asked, “Why do you make those noises.” Once kids started noticing, and my grades\u00a0started to be affected, my mom took me to a neurologist where I was officially\u00a0diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome.<\/p>\n

I was put on medication which worked\u00a0beautifully, my mom got me a tutor so I could catch up, and socially I began to\u00a0develop. Once I reached this point, my mom and I started talking openly about\u00a0stress and how to manage it, as well as when it’s time for help. Let’s face it, life is\u00a0full of stress and changes. It’s just the way life is, maybe more now than ever\u00a0before.<\/p>\n

I’ve learned to stay active in sports, have a nice work-play balance, and try\u00a0to get enough sleep, and eat right. I do believe it’s a combination of all these\u00a0things that has helped me manage my disease as well as I have. Over the past\u00a0decade, I’ve only needed to return to a medication regime, and only for a very\u00a0short period of time. I’m aware my future is unpredictable, but I do feel that with\u00a0the right tools, my future will be bright and productive.<\/p>\n

Tourette’s does not define\u00a0me. It’s part of my life and always will be, but has forced me to take care of myself\u00a0mentally and spiritually, which can only be a good thing in my eyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) for their 2017 Youth Scholarship Award contest. When I was in kindergarten, my home was full of stress. I don’t remember\u00a0actually knowing why,… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[90,143,264,289,297,314],"yoast_head":"\n2017 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: "How Tourette Syndrome has Played a Part in My Life" - 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 2017 Youth Scholarship Award contest.\" \/>\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\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2017 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: "How Tourette Syndrome has Played a Part in My Life"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) for their 2017 Youth Scholarship Award contest.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Teens4TS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-10T13:40:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-22T20:42:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2017\/05\/Alvino-Nicholas-2017-235x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NJCTS Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NJCTS Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"NJCTS Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/#\/schema\/person\/8540678898342f39cbe5a1275f40c893\"},\"headline\":\"2017 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: “How Tourette Syndrome has Played a Part in My Life”\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-10T13:40:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-22T20:42:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2017\/05\/Alvino-Nicholas-2017-235x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Diagnosis\",\"Goals\",\"Scholarships\",\"Stress\",\"Support\",\"Tics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Teens\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/njcts.org\/teens4ts\/2017-njcts-youth-scholarship-award-essay-how-tourette-syndrome-has-played-a-part-in-my-life\/\",\"name\":\"2017 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: \\\"How Tourette Syndrome has Played a Part in My Life\\\" - 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