The Life of Parker: VIDEO Blog

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO THAT PARKER MADE TO TRY AND EXPLAIN WHAT HE GOES THROUGH WITH SYSTEMIC ON-SET JUVENILE ARTHRITIS

Click below on video picture or on this link: The Life of Parker

Logan's Lovin' the Good Life ~By Logan

Everybody wants a good life. This may sound obvious, but it still renders true. So what exactly constitutes what is, and is not considered a good life? Well, this is a very subjective topic, which will surely have many different answers; I think that it all comes down to happiness. In order to have a good life, in my opinion, one must be happy.

            
Of all things, I have found happiness in helping others. When I was in seventh grade, my younger brother was diagnosed with systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a form of arthritis that not only attacks one’s joints, but also their internal organs. When I first learned about the severity of his disease, I was at a loss for words, but from that moment on I knew what I wanted to do; I wanted to become a pediatric rheumatologist. I immediately put this plan into action, by starting to volunteer at the Arthritis Foundation. Though the work may not have seemed like a lot to most, I knew that I was helping the Foundation in a large way. Soon they assigned me a larger task; they saw the leader in me, and asked me to organize an event for families to come together and network. I gladly accepted this task, and when I saw the smiles of the people attending the event I was ecstatic. Knowing that I could help people, and bring them joy made me the happiest person on the planet.

If we fast-forward a few years to the present, I am still helping people, but now on a national level. The arthritis foundation has made me a committee member on the young adult committee for the National Juvenile Arthritis Conference in 2015. Now I am bringing people together from across the country to network and advocate for juvenile arthritis. I feel like I am truly making a difference now, and changing people’s lives, for the better, along the way.

My undergraduate experience, however, will not prepare me for ‘the good life’ because I am already living that. On the other hand, college will prepare me for a better life, by helping me reach my ultimate goal of going into pediatric rheumatology. Once I become a pediatric rheumatologist, I will have a chance to eliminate the pain that hundreds of children suffer from on a daily basis, and that will make me the happiest person on the planet.