"But, you don't look like you have a disability..."

"Is that offensive?"

"What is it like dealing with school?"

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"I don't think you're the right person for this."

"Please don't have a seizure."

I've heard it all. I've heard the whispers. I've heard the direct comments. I've heard how people truly feel about "dealing" with someone like me. What I'm here to tell you is that my disabilities do not define me.

Over the years, I've encountered numerous types of people. I've met people who care about you no matter what you bring. I've met people who keep you at an arms distance because they don't want to deal with any "baggage." I've met people who assume something based on false facts. I've met people who think they know what they're talking about when really they don't. I've also realized how many people don't understand that we, people who have disabilities, can do just as much as anybody else.

I've sat through class after class with a teacher who doesn't realize that I am capable of the work. I may have to do it differently but I am just as capable as the next person. I've had opportunities offered to me just to be taken away because someone is afraid I'll have a seizure. I've watched people all around me assume that I may never be able to do something solely because of my learning disability and seizure disorder.

As I went through school, I had teachers who understood and teachers who didn't understand that all I need sometimes is the encouragement to beat my disability. The more and more people looked at me and saw my disability, the more I began to think that was who I was. I was a disability. I was the girl who has seizures and a brain tumor.

In all reality, a tumor and seizures do not define me.

I am much more than something that has affected me. I am more than the girl who had a seizure in class. I am more than the girl who had brain surgery so it's harder for her. I am the girl who takes all of it in stride. I am the girl who looks at her "disabilities" and sees the good that has come from both.

I have decided that my disabilities no longer get a say in what I love in life. Those disabilities no longer have the choice in what I enjoy. I have decided that my brain surgery does not have the final say in where I go in life.

If I could say one thing to people who look at me and see a disability, I would tell them that I can do anything you can do. It may take me a little longer, but trust me I can do it. I may fail a test, but that is not the end for me. I will try 10 times harder. I will not give up because I have, according to worldly standards, failed.

Just because I have disabilities does not mean I am weak.

I have seen it again and again. I work harder than most people because I kind of have to. My disabilities are not going to win. The statistics are not going to win. I will beat the daily comments.

My disabilities do not define me.