Meet Our 2024 David A. Liu and Lauren Wu Scholars

I have undergone three sets of braces, more than ten major surgeries, and numerous procedures to provide a better life for me. Through the years, I have learned to not be ashamed of my appearance. When I was young, I would be self-conscious of my looks and how I seemed different from others. I have been made fun of for my lisp and been stared at for my cleft. I have had insensitive comments made about my nose. Eating and breathing has been difficult due to my cleft palate. My large surgeries that require long periods of recovery have made me miss out on many things. My cleft lip and palate caused me to have a massive underbite, which required an intensive jaw surgery, with months of recovery. My braces have caused years of treatments, and I have had to learn to care for and maintain them. It is through these challenges that I have grown the most. I have become sure of myself and my appearance. I do not worry what others think or say of me. I sometimes even forget I have a cleft lip. I have grown mentally strong though my surgeries and do not let these obstacles hold me down.

I will take these experiences with me throughout life. I will probably still get rude comments and stares, but I will go into life confident in myself. I will persevere through trials and learn to adapt. I want to bring more awareness to those with these types of medical conditions. I want to be an example for others and help them succeed in life, no matter the circumstances. My cleft lip and palate have always and will always be a part of me. It has given me self-confidence and strength, a strong will and self-discipline. Instead of trying to deny it and let it hold me down, I have learned to accept it as a part of me, a special mark given to me by my Maker.

On the drive home I teased my mom on how sensitive she is. “Riley, it was all I could do not to turn into a sobbing mess! And it had nothing to do with swimming!” She shared with me what was behind what seemed like her disproportional reaction to the event. I don’t think about what I have had to overcome that often, since it is just the life I lead. But in that moment, I did pause to reflect.

I had significant speech issues due to my cleft palate. As a toddler, I relied heavily on sign language to communicate. We found an amazing video series, “Signing Times,” that quickly taught us signs that helped me communicate. I attended speech therapy weekly. When I was three, I was deemed old enough to have phalangeal flap surgery to help address the issue. I vaguely remember the recovery, partly due to the stories my parents have shared, and it was horrible.

The surgery helped my speech but impacted my ability to breathe through my nose, something I went through my childhood without ever really being able to do. My ability to smell was affected. Despite this, I somehow excelled at swimming, even though my breathing was all off for that sport. Eventually, I needed two additional surgeries to address and fix my nose breathing. The first one was right before I started high school, and it impacted my speech again. You know what is not fun? Starting high school and being self-conscious about how you sound. Even more so when it is at the peak of COVID, so everything is online and your voice seems even more important and pivotal to establishing who you are. Speaking is not something that came naturally to me.

So, there I was, in front of over 100 people, microphone in hand, giving what my mom says was an extremely thoughtful and eloquent speech. Most people probably listened to it and thought, “That was nice.” My mom listened to it and had an entire reel of what it took to get to that moment playing in her head. Upon reflection, I guess it is kind of impressive. But to me, it is just part of my life as Riley.

I wish I could protect him from these experiences, and I wish I could prevent him from feeling the hurt I did, but all I can do is offer him my support and advice. We have bonded over shared experiences and moments of confiding in each other.

Through my experiences, I have leaned further into my passion for helping others. Having a cleft lip and palate has helped me discern my purpose of becoming a child and adolescent psychiatrist. I want to help children who struggle with low self-esteem, in addition to other mental health obstacles, and I want to be the pillar of support I needed when I was younger. Through this job, I aspire to make a difference and use my experiences to help others.

Because of my birth difference, I have had the wonderful opportunity to be an ambassador for Arkansas Children's Hospital. During this ambassadorship, I was able to talk to different families and groups of people about my birth difference and how it affected my childhood.

This experience encouraged me to be involved in many events to help individuals in our community. My family and I restarted our local chapter of Circle of Friends, a group that hosted fundraisers and events in order to raise money for Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

One specific event that my family and I spearheaded was the Glow 5K. The event involved blacklights, glow-in-the-dark paint, and blacklight-reactive water. We filled buckets of glow water to line the running path, set up blacklights at various points, coordinated with law enforcement to block off involved roads, handed out Glow 5K t-shirts and glow sticks, and sprayed runners with glow water as they ran past. Over several years, the Glow 5K fundraiser has raised over $75,000 for the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

The challenges I faced have actually blessed me with the ability to realize how precious time and people are. I have had to miss many hours of school because of surgeries and doctor’s appointments. My academic studies, extracurricular activities, and relationships with friends and family became priorities for me through these obstacles.

Throughout my life, I’ve been blessed to receive the care and love of an assortment of people, including family, friends, doctors, and nurses. So many people have brought me comfort and love during the hard times. My journey has inspired me to always show love to others, because you never know what might be going on in someone else’s life.

Being born with a cleft palate and Pierre Robin Sequence has made me who I am today and has brought me experiences I otherwise never would have had. These experiences have galvanized in me the importance of helping others in any way that I can. And, as a future NICU Nurse Practitioner, I hope to help parents realize that all kids have potential as well!