Inspiring Futures: AboutFace Scholarship Program

We are pleased to announce that the 2018 AboutFace Anna Pileggi Scholarship winner is Camryn.

Camryn was born with a cleft lip and palate and has undergone five major surgeries, and has attended many procedures and appointments with healthcare professionals such as: audiologists, orthodontists, surgeons, dentists and speech therapists.
Camryn views having a cleft lip and palate as a positive, as it has given her the opportunity to meet many amazing people through programs at SickKids Hospital and has made her grateful for the medical care she has received.

Camyrn says that although there have been times when she wished she was “normal”, she is happy that she has been provided opportunities to explore who she is and to build confidence. Camryn says, “All my life I have known that I was different. Before I tried to hide my cleft, but now I couldn’t be more proud of my difference.”

Being a patient in the hospital and meeting healthcare professionals is what has inspired Camyrn to study nursing, which she will begin this fall.

When asked about what winning the Anna Pileggi Scholarship means to her, Camryn replied, “Winning the scholarship allows me to pursue my dream career and support other people with facial differences. I have been given the opportunity to share my story with others and be part of a larger community of people who like me, have faced challenges with their facial differences, but still strive for excellence in their lives. I would like to tell others that people with a facial difference want to be treated like anyone else. We are capable of anything we put our mind too!”