Savanna Kay Sultemeier
Ever since I was little, my life has always been about music. I could play the trumpet, guitar, and piano even before I was out of the 6th grade and I could not imagine a future that did not revolve around music. I love everything about this art, and the excitement that I feel when I partake in it by listening or performing. Over the years, I found that music has had a relaxing quality that goes so far as to pacify my tics, to an extent. During school however, the tics were unmanageable. Every morning, with every ADHD pill that I took, my tics increased ten-fold and the kids around me ridiculed and taunted me, as children will do. They did not understand my burden but I could not help but feel unfairly treated. I begged my parents for years to home-school me and to get me out of this place that did not accept me. Of course now, after twelve years of schooling and making life long friends in high school, I would not have done it any differently. However, for the longest time (most of my middle school career, in fact) I was often questioned about these strange and abrupt audible nuisances I would cause by popping my back, fingers, and ankles; or the noises I would make in the back of my throat, or the guttural sounds I would make by huffing and tensing my diaphragm. I would always deny their observations and say that I did not know what they were talking about. This, of course, invited more ridicule. Upon entering high school, I decided to end my misery and be forthcoming about my condition. Since then, I was accepted by my peers and found myself in a social group that I was most appreciated. I know that Tourette’s Syndrome will always be apart of my life, and getting rid of that would be as implausible as getting rid of my musical ambition. However, no matter the obstacle and or the amount of duress I feel because of it, I will never let my affliction take control of me.