“It takes a community, it takes a belief that you can be better, that you can fight back, that you can defy all odds and that you do not have to be a victim of your circumstance. A comeback is about the desire to redefine all limitations, having the courage to do what many would call impossible, the passion for what you love to do and most of all having the grace to know when you simply cannot do it alone.”

"Inclusion to me is a like swim meet. I show up on race day with my meticulously rehearsed race plan, a lane, and a goal. My competitors share the same goal - to be faster than they were yesterday. They don’t know, care, or notice that I have a disability. I am my ability. All I need is the opportunity to see how fast I can go."

Lizzi was drawn to swimming because of the solitude she found in the water and joined the local swim team when she was 7. But there was no hiding her arm in a swimsuit. Swimming is where Lizzi learned how to turn stares into her fuel. She loved the sport for how exhilarating it was to set goals and achieve them. When she was 11, she set a goal to become a Paralympian.

I am Becca Meyers. For #iwd2021, we’re changing #howyouseeme. I am a deafblind person who has faced many challenges due to our society’s perception of people with disabilities. I was born with Usher’s Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects my hearing, vision and balance. I was born profoundly deaf, have balance issues and have Retinitis Pigmentosa which is a progressive eye disease that will leave me completely blind one day. Society has been quick to ‘label’ me as incompetent, dumb and even one time a blind mute, and this had an emotional impact on how I viewed myself while growing up. However, I took those negative labels that were placed on me and channeled them through academics and swimming, to prove people wrong, that I am capable of accomplishing anything I set my mind too despite my disabilities. Today at age 26, I have won 6 Paralympic medals, 3 of them gold, set multiple world records and will graduate from Franklin and Marshall College with a stellar GPA. I am not a dumb, incompetent, blind mute person. I am Becca Meyers who has shot for the stars and have achieved things beyond my wildest dreams. This is #HowYouSeeMe.

Growing up I was always a bit of a risk taker. I loved adventuring out and trying new things. I have learned to make the most of a situation I couldn't control and love living life. In 2012 I was diagnosed with transverse myelitis leaving me at a T10. It was a hard adjustment being 15, and having to take a few steps back when everyone else was moving on. But to this day I wouldn't change a thing that has happened to me because it led me to this amazing group of girls I get to call my sisters