CRMO is hard. CRMO is painful. I woke up one morning when I was four years old with two fully collapsed vertebra, but we didn't know that at the time. And finally, around the age seven or eight, I was diagnosed with CRMO. It is completely unknown of what the day will bring. But I just will take everything that the day brings me as an achievement. CRMO is an abbreviation for Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis. And it's the inflammation of the bone. And so my white blood cells are confused, and they end up attacking my bones, causing a lot of pain. If you can imagine what it feels like to have your leg broken--it's painful to have your leg broken. But now, if you can imagine there being lots of little breaks, lots of little destruction in that bone, that's what CRMO patients deal with every day. And so it's just very challenging to sit and watch a child suffer. I had had a surgery. And the doctor was like, "She needs to get in the water." And so I started swimming. And I absolutely hated it at first. But over time, it's become one of my most favorite things to do now. At this last meet, she was asked to be the anchor. And at the end, it was so cute, because there were all of the girls standing around, and they said, "Your anchor on your team is so good!" And they said, "Really? Do you want to meet her?" And they opened up, and there was Faith in her wheelchair. The motivation that I find is within helping other people. There definitely were multiple defining moments where I was overcome with this feeling that I needed to help people. And I think that those were the days where I was struggling the most, really because I knew that there was absolutely nothing else that I could do for myself. So I decided, "Why not just serve somebody else?" Faith has been involved in many different service organizations, like Laps for Libraries, where she swam to help build a library in Togo, Africa. Walk for Water. Walk for Water. She has done food drives for the Lynnwood Food Bank, as well as for the YWCA. She's helped with beach cleanups. She's made things for a children's hospital. She makes blankets for the elderly. She is a youth ambassador for the Melodic Caring Project and for the MePowerment camps. She continually helps with the CRMO community. She'll answer questions from children all around the world. I mean, you think, "Wow, can a 16-year-old make a difference in the life of somebody across the world?" And the answer is, yeah! We also work with Kaila's Comfort by participating in their annual 5K fundraiser. One thing that she does that I just admire so much is that she never does this by herself. She's always asking people to come and join her. And people are always really happy to do it because it's always fun when it's with Faith. And yet, through it all, there's this underlying depth of character for her, because she's in pain. And that doesn't stop her from affecting the world for good. Anybody can do what I'm doing. I'm not doing anything grand. I'm just this normal teenage girl who saw the needs of her community. I am grateful for where I am today. I am grateful for the pain that I went through. And that sounds crazy. But I am grateful for those experiences that I had, that I've provided connection and friendships that will last me more than pain will. And your life can be hard. And it's OK to realize that it is, at first. But there's a point in time that you can no longer sit in the sadness. There's a point that you have to look away from your situation and look to the outside. When I'm able to serve other people, that's when I'm the happiest. That's when I feel that I am enough and that I'm being the best that I can be. And I think I've been able to feel Heavenly Father and Christ's love through serving others because I'm fulfilling something that They want me to do.