Lauren Jean

31 Jan Lauren Jean

From a very young age, I got to realize truths about this world that most do not recognize until a much later age. My brother, Cory, completely changed my perspective and how I view people and life in general. Cory is severely medically, mentally, and physically challenged with a mitochondrial disease and many other medical disorders that make him very different in the eyes of someone from the outside looking in. By countless amounts of people, he was looked down upon, called names, stepped over, and overall unreasonably mistreated. As a young girl, I witnessed how people were so cruel that they couldn’t even have the decency to treat my brother as a respected human being. As if that weren’t bad enough, Cory was not able to do anything about this. He could not change his circumstances if he tried. Worst of all, Cory was not given the luxury of choice, the gift that the average person so often takes for granted.

When I was about seven years old, all of these facts hit me like a slap in the face, and from that point on, I valued choice and making my life what I wanted it to be. I decided to be unapologetic about who I am because my brother has no other choice than to be himself unapologetically. At the time, I was being bullied and treated indifferent. I felt that I needed to change myself to feel like I have worth. My brother is the one who helped me through that portion of my life without saying a single word. I realized that no one will ever impress everyone. Cory was judged just for being himself. That changed my views on people. Kids were judging me (and still to this day) for my style, my personality, and my dreams. I had dreams of making it big and being the artist that people listen to on their worst days, their best days, and everything in between. The dreams I had at that age are the dreams I am currently working towards now. Nothing has changed. That is because I decided to fully commit to who I am at seven years old.

The average human being has the power to make the changes they want to see in their life. The difference between Cory and the majority of society is that he will never be able to choose the life that he wants. The realization that I had no excuse for not pursuing my dreams came to me very early in life. Some of the people that judged me said that my career was handed to me. In a way, you could say that is true. I believe that God is the reason I have the life that I have because God gave this world Cory. Without Cory, I would not have the drive, determination, and passion to live the life of my dreams.

-Lauren Jean