Though newly diagnosed, Tess Harrington is determined to not let her new reality impact her previously planned goals!

Diagnosed at 19, Tess is now 20 and a Junior in college at Roanoke College in Virginia. Tess recently attended the Middlebury College Arabic language program this past summer to help further prepare her for her double major in International Relations and Philosophy with an added concentration in Middle East Studies. She is also a recipient of the foundation’s 2022 Nick Birchak Strength of Character College Scholarship award.

Tess told EFNENY that “While navigating epilepsy has been a struggle, I have also learned a lot about myself and how I operate in unusual and difficult situations. The hope is that I will at some point become seizure-free and be able to continue the work I have started in my undergraduate studies.’”

Tess would like others to know that “There are going to be good and bad days and they will not always look the same.”