The Core Blog

If anyone has a story that can justly be called BUnique and BUtiful, then one of our Core first-year students, Abbey Janeira, has certainly made her own a strong candidate. She was profiled in a recent article at BU Today:

Abbey Janeira (CAS ’20) is used to facing challenges. As an eighth grader, she was diagnosed with a chronic, often debilitating medical condition that led to frequent hospitalizations throughout high school and often left her feeling alone. Despite that, she says, she was able to maintain a 4.0 grade point average.

Image for BUToday

A year and a half ago, Janeira’s family life changed dramatically when her mother decided to adopt five children from Bulgaria, all with special needs or critical medical issues. (She also has an older sister.) Where many would be daunted by the challenge of helping to care for so many siblings with pressing health care concerns, Janeira embraced it.

When you’re having a bad day and you’re sitting there and feeling upset, she says, they can tell and they just come up to you and give you a hug. Its not something you can replicate with anyone else.

Janeira says she’s wanted to be a doctor her whole life, but that dealing with her own illness and that of her brothers and sisters has made her determined to become a pediatric surgeon and researcher. Her goal is to find a cure for spina bifida, a condition that has left her four-year-old sister, Addison, in a wheelchair. “It’s made me more understanding of other peoples situations as well as my own,” she says.

The last bit really strikes the Core note doesn’t it?On that note, welcome to Core, Abbey. We’re glad you’re part of our community. (We encourage readers to leave their own message of welcome in the comments section below.)

Meet Abbey at BU Today.