When I took my first dose of Trikafta back in 2019, it was as if someone had opened a door I didn’t even know existed. For the first time, I could breathe—truly breathe—without the weight of CF pressing down on me. And with that breath, a new dream took shape: teaching.

Before Trikafta, I never imagined I could handle the exhaustion and demands of a full-time job, let alone one that required constant energy and enthusiasm. But now, standing in front of my second-grade classroom, I knew—teaching hadn’t just become possible. It had saved me.

Each morning, I am met with wide-eyed students eager to learn, their laughter filling all the walls of the room. Their joy gives me a sense of purpose, their curiosity fuels me, and their endless questions remind me why I fight so hard to be here.

I don't share my personal life to my students, specifically, cystic fibrosis, but I try to share wisdom in other ways. I teach them about perseverance when a math problem seems impossible, about patience when frustration bubbles up, about kindness in the smallest moments. Every lesson carries a piece of my journey, woven into the fabric of my classroom.

Before Trikafta, I had been surviving. Teaching had given me something more. It had given me a reason to wake up every morning with excitement, to pour myself into something greater, to live the life I never thought I could have.

And with every lesson taught, every story read, and every tiny hand raised in curiosity, I knew—this was where I was meant to be. Giving back to others, making little Lauren proud, and breathing easy.. always.