I was in kidney failure. I ended up having a kidney transplant on my 21st birthday.

I love the smell of rain, and I love the sound of the ocean waves.

I don't want to see myself as this sad, disabled girl. I know that. I don't want other people to see me as that, either.

I was on my death bed, and I remember hanging on to these words, 'Don't be scared. You are going to live an amazing life,' and I have.

I got this second chance at life, and I live it.

I was 19 years old, and I felt like I had the flu one day. Within 24 hours, I was in the hospital on life support, and I was given less than a 2 percent chance of living. It took five days for the doctors to find out that I had contracted bacterial meningitis.

I've never wanted sympathy votes in anything I do in my life.

I've learned that borders are where the actual ends, but also where the imagination and the story begins.