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Hava grew up under stares and whispers. Surrounded by constant judgment, two things kept her afloat: her family and her violin. Hava picked up the violin as a young child, just as a rare genetic condition—Trichorhinophalangeal Syndrome—began to shape how she saw herself. “It’s incredibly, incredibly rare,
Mindy’s story begins before she was born, shaped by two people who fled for their lives. Her mother and father—who hadn’t yet met—escaped from Europe during the Second World War. “They fled to Holland, but when Hitler invaded, they caught the last ship out of Amsterdam.
“I never thought I’d make it through high school—let alone college,” Bayley says. But this past May, he earned his bachelor’s degree. “It seems like a dream,” he says. “It’s crazy that I’m here now, but I’m very thankful for it all.” For Bayley,
Emily Lubin was a little girl who loved performing for her family — funny, full of life, yet already aware that her body was being judged. For as long as she can remember, she was critiqued and picked apart for her appearance. “I was about 10 years old, and I was