Defying the odds is something I always strive to accomplish. Growing up, it seemed like the odds were stacked against me. I had a learning disability and a speech impediment. Teachers doubted me and my ability to ever succeed or perform at the same level as other students. Although giving up and letting my disability define me would have been easier, I never considered that the path for me.

My parents taught me to work hard, never letting my obstacles stop me from accomplishing my goals. It may sound crazy but I was a student with a speech impediment, and I am a journalism student with a writing disorder.

Throughout elementary, middle and high school, writing assignments were my biggest fear. Despite a noticeable speech disorder, I loved speaking in front of the class. Writing, however, was a very different story. If you grew up in Florida than you might remember that horrible test called the FCAT. I vividly remember feeling like I would throw up every time we had to practice for the writing part of the exam. Children are told never to compare themselves to others, but while all my friends were earning 4s or 5s on their writing, I was still lagging behind with 3s at best.

When I finally received my official score, I do not know who was more thrilled - my parents or me? Of course, the fear returned when I had to complete the writing section of the SAT. I tried to voice my concern to teachers, but they never seemed to understand. As a student with a 4.0, they believed grades came naturally. Teachers did not know I spent hours studying, taking notes, and quizzing myself to perform at the same level as other students. The papers they were grading were the final of five drafts I would work on at home, proofed by several people before the due date.

My writing was unimaginative and boring. One of my assignments in my theater class was to write a play. For three years, I dreaded this part of the semester, knowing my writing would be the cause of my grades to fall. It was during this part of the semester of my sophomore year I decided that whatever job I chose to pursue would not involve writing. It didn't help that my evaluation showed I wrote at a sixth-grade level, with little hope of ever improving.

Now as a junior in college, I have somehow decided to pursue journalism as a career. Despite the obstacles that stand in my way, I have developed a toolbox of strategies to overcome them. Every writing assignment I turn in goes through multiple drafts, and I am a frequent flyer at my professor's office. Writing for the Odyssey has given me the confidence to write and tell my stories, which is the reason I picked this major.

It only takes one person to believe in you, and that person gave me a chance to write during my senior year of high school. She provided me with the opportunity to share other people's stories and experiences, which is what journalism is all about.

Somehow, even with a learning disability, I am doing well in my classes. Although they are a lot of work and I have to work twice as hard as other students, that is what I have always had to do. Success should not come easy. It requires hard work and dedication, something I have never been a stranger to.