Jaren was diagnosed with complex partial seizures at just 18 months old. Now, at age 14, Jaren has been seizure free for the last 7 months after finding the right medication to help manage his seizures.

Jaren wants others to know that “living with epilepsy isn’t always easy…but you shouldn’t let epilepsy stop you from doing what makes you happy!”

Jaren has certainly lived this philosophy to the fullest! This past year Jaren and his teammates from Norwood-Norfolk Middle School had the opportunity to travel to Houston, Texas to compete at the FIRST Lego League World Championship competition. As a part of the competition, each team was required to complete a project, of which Jaren’s team project was nominated for a Global Innovation Award. Jaren describes Robotics as “a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun, too!”

While at the competition, Jaren was able to advocate for epilepsy awareness by bringing along some informational brochures and sharing them with people who stopped by the team’s booth. Jaren stated that “he got to meet some really cool people and hear some stories about their family members and friends who also have epilepsy.”