The Lupus Inspiration Foundation for Excellence (L.I.F.E.) is excited to honor SHELBY TRUITT of Alabama for her accomplishments during May, which is national Lupus Awareness Month. Shelby is one of the recipients of the 2019/20 L.I.F.E. Scholarship awarded to college students overcoming the setbacks of lupus—showing incredible courage, strength, and perseverance. Shelby is a sophomore at Auburn University. She belongs to three honor societies, accrued over 100 hours of community service, and displays leadership as Cheer Captain. Recently, Shelby and her family were contacted by The Rheumatology Research Foundation to participate in lupus awareness in families. Through which, they shared their stories about being a family with “three generations with rheumatic diseases.” The documentary they filmed was played at a national rheumatology conference to raise awareness and funding. Additionally, she won an FCCLA national gold medal for her work with Stop the Violence. As a student with lupus, Shelby has faced many challenges, but one word of advice she gave is to make sure you make “time to check up on yourself” and “have a good friend to confide in.” As a student-athlete, she is able to balance all her activities and is motivated to do her best in all endeavors. She says, her diagnosis has given her so many opportunities that she would not have otherwise, and she is thankful that she has a platform to share her story on.

“Life imposes things on you that you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this.” -Celine Dion

https://youtu.be/5KWqwOe5geU (link for documentary)

Written by Hannah Brookings Recipient of a 2019/20 sponsored L.I.F.E Scholarship Volunteer/Ambassador of L.I.F.E.