Arianna has not only overcome some medical adversity, but she has a condition that you’ve likely never heard of, that effects her way of life. Arianna was born with cold urticaria. With cold urticaria, exposure to cold temperatures causes redness, itching, swelling and hives on the skin, and can even cause fainting, shock or death. Aside from avoiding winter exposure, she also avoids ice cream, extremely cold drinks or drinks with ice in them, and even swimming in cold water. She started gymnastics at 4 yrs old, and competed in a State Competition at 9, winning first place. It was her final competition. She started having knee problems due to undeveloped tendons in her knee. Since that time, Arianna has had six knee surgeries to try to correct the problem. Four of the six surgeries were during her high school years. Despite being at home for more of her schooling than she was at school, she has remained on the A/B honor roll. In her “spare time”she drag races. She is the only female in her division, and the only person that is younger than twenty-five years old. Arianna also averages about 75 hours of community service per year. Her goal at ECU? She plans to become a Biomedical Engineer and specialize in children’s prosthetics.
Kevin has joined us from Beijing, China. In October of 2011, Kevin lost his father unexpectedly. The sudden change in his life, brought him to Holly Springs. Five days after the loss of his father, Kevin was enrolled and taking classes at Holly Springs High School. “When I came here my English was pretty bad so my GPA was like 3.5 after the first semester, but now I have a 4.5 GPA.” Kevin is the president of Chinese Club, Secretary of Math Honor Society, member of both the Interact Club and Aeronautic Club, and an active member of National Honor Society. Kevin is also involved in HOSA (Health Occupation Student of America ), and placed 2nd in both the district and state competitions. He’ll be competing in the national competition this June. Kevin has not only overcome the language barrier, but the loss of his father and severe cultural differences, yet he has excelled academically and socially. His goal at ECU? “I have always wanted to be a doctor who can help others from their suffering. I’m going to ECU for their medical program. I want to major in neuroscience or bio-med, then take pre-med courses, so that I can get into medical school to continue my dream.”
