Rebecca wrote this moving essay for her National Merit Finalist application about her perspective on life. Please enjoy her beautiful words:

We are told since youth if we keep climbing, we will reach the top of our mountain. And once we get to the mountaintop by reaching our goals, we will enjoy the spectacular view of our accomplishments. Beauty comes at a price. A mountain must be climbed. The hike might not be easy, but the end makes it worth the effort. 

At least, that is what I have been told my whole life. One day, I will get there. One day, I will be able to live without pain. One day, I will have enough energy to run. One day, I will be healed. But what if I keep climbing and never reach my mountaintop?

When I was seven years old, I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. My initial diagnosis morphed into a conglomeration of eighteen other diseases as my body continued to attack itself. As the years progressed, my organs, including my pancreas, slowly failed one by one until last week when I lost my sixth organ.

My overarching disease was unknown. While subsequent disorders could be named and treated, we were only addressing the symptoms of a bigger problem. My family and I went from hospital to hospital across the country frantically searching for a diagnosis. The known is easier to fight than the unknown and, despite the fact I knew there might not be a cure, I still longed for a name to this disease attacking my body. A name meant I was one step closer to the end of my mountaintop.

Every appointment, every test, and every one of the 90-plus surgical procedures ended in the same result. Medical specialists nationwide were confounded by my case. Most institutions gave up before starting; I was a “walking miracle” who had no earthly reason to be alive. At what point do you stop? When do you look at your future and realize it should not merely exist of white coats, years in a hospital room, and treatments that are all in vain? When does the pain end? When your life is on the line, you are left with two options: give up or keep going. 

Living each day as a battle is exhausting. You eventually get so tired of fighting that you have nothing left. So, I stopped fighting and shifted my focus. In 2014, Make-A-Wish offered me the world. I could go anywhere I wanted, meet any person on the planet, do anything I pleased. My choice was easy. I chose to stop fighting for myself and start helping others. 

By 2018, four years of hard work came to a bright beginning. Rebecca’s Wish – the world’s first nonprofit dedicated to children with pancreatitis – was launched. Since its inception, countless pediatric patients have come to our door desperate for help. They needed relief from their pain. They needed an end to their searching. They needed a refuge. And Rebecca’s Wish met their needs.

If I focused on my own suffering, my self-centered orientation led to misery. But, why concentrate on myself when I could ease the burden for thousands of other children? My pain, my emotional trauma, and my ongoing struggles could be used to help others afflicted with a similar journey.

In finding hope for the children of Rebecca’s Wish, I found hope in myself. The joy of easing another’s pain erased my own despondency. They gave me a part of my life back. They gave me courage. They gave me determination. They gave me ambition. They gave me a reason to keep going.

I might never reach the end of my mountain. I might spend the rest of my life chasing after a cure that does not exist. I might never get to see the view at the top. But I have come to realize my beauty is not in the finish line. My beauty is in the journey of the smiles from the patients finding someone who understands. My beauty is in the parents who find relief for their children. My beauty is in the hope that one day, all children suffering from pancreatitis will have a cure. I could spend my life fighting for myself or, I could use every unknown remaining second I have walking beside another child, helping them climb mountains of their own.