I'm Sam! I'm 26 years old and I am from Panama City, Florida. I was born with a bilateral cleft lip. I still live in my hometown and it is quite small so growing up I didn't know very many people with a similar condition. While I have always been a smiley, outgoing person, I admit that feeling different caused me to be very hard on myself. I have always expected myself to be "perfect" in other ways because I wasn't "born perfect." Even though this may seem silly now, it was a very real issue for me as a child. Oh how I wish I had had a community like this as a young person. I never spoke of my cleft and even if it was mentioned I would get very upset. I am ashamed to admit this, but I know in a community like this I can be honest and hopefully others will understand. I think I thought if it wasn't spoken about maybe I would be like everyone else. (But why would I want to when I could be me!)

At this time, I work in marketing and public relations. I am in front of people and on tv all the time. I want and pray that I will have the courage to use these skills to talk about my cleft and to help others like me. I am proud of who I am, including the cleft that I was born with. In a world surrounded with vanity, we have to find our own true beauty and self worth. <3