By: Kennedy Ross

   A shirt that is 2 sizes too big and is burned too bright is a shirt that has encompassed the last 6 years of my life.

   Starting since I was 10 years old, I have had Psoriasis, a chronic and autoimmune disease that severely affects your skin with plaques. The moment I knew I had this, the world had stopped. Everything had paused. I was alone with no one to help me. I was in a world that knocked me from a happy and colorful road to the rough and gravel filled sides. Though 2.2% of the U.S. population, or 7.5 million, have Psoriasis, it seemed like none of those people understood. I thought to myself, “where could they be?”

   Though I started out petrified and confused, like a deer in headlights, I have continued my journey for 6 years, where I have learned to be proud of my disease and to not hide from it. Since then, I have stumbled upon NPF, the National Psoriasis Foundation, which took me from a small force that had only recently felt empowered, to a household name of many NPF ambassadors, volunteers, and speakers.

   I had become a sort of celebrity in this community, but I realized that being optimistic was not enough to bring awareness of this disease. Relying on adult volunteers and fundraisers to spread my name was not enough, so I had to expand my reach.

   The first thing I did was to submit an application to be a Youth Ambassador. At the time, I thought this was pointless because I knew that I would probably never get picked to hold such a prestigious role. But, sure enough, 6 weeks later, I became a Youth Ambassador! Now knowing that I was worthy of grasping this position, I started to raise money for NPF and attended all of the events that they held in my area. Every time I went to these events, I was given a shirt.

   Since I had raised so much money for every event, I got a special shirt. A shirt that makes you stand out in the crowd, no matter if you want to or not. A shirt that trapped people when they glanced over to you and forced them to walk over you in a trance-like state. It is a shirt that is as luminous as a traffic cone, but it is a shirt that encloses my need to donate and raise awareness for this disease.  

   Every time I take out my shirt and glaze over it, I realize just how much this shirt has done for me. It has reminded me that I stand out in the crowd and attract people to me. It has also taught me to continue to bring about more knowledge to Psoriasis and to fight for a cure.

   Overall, this shirt has changed my life for the better and has taught me the power of being positive, which is a power that should be spread more often throughout the world.