Hi! My name is Sydnie, and I am a sophomore at Xavier University of Louisiana. Currently serve as a Kidney Student Health Ambassador with EMBARK Awareness. My journey with kidney disease began in a hospital room when I was eleven years old.

One day, my father came home that day with chest pain he'd been having for nearly an hour, convinced he was just tired from the gym. By the time he arrived at the hospital, he was in the middle of an active heart attack. The doctors diagnosed him with Cardiac Amyloidosis, a rare heart condition that causes build up and tension in the heart muscles - making it stiff and unable to pump blood throughout the body properly.

What I didn't understand then was the complexity of the relationship between the heart and the kidneys. When the heart struggles to pump blood, the kidneys don't get the oxygen and nutrients they need to filter waste. My father underwent a triple bypass procedure, and for a brief moment, we hoped he might recover, but his kidneys had already begun to fail. Days later, it wasn't his heart that took him from us. It was kidney failure.

I was eleven, and suddenly the fragility of life became something I carried with me everywhere.

About five years after my father's passing, I found out my grandmother had been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease - and has lived with that diagnosis for a long time. In that moment, I realized this wasn't just about my father - it was about a pattern, a cycle of conditions that often go unrecognized until it's too late.

That loss reshaped how I see the world of healthcare, and how I hope to contribute to it. At Xavier University of Louisiana, I found EMBARK, a program focused on kidney health education and early screening. Becoming a Kidney Student Health Ambassador gave me a way to turn my grief into purpose.

Today, I work to bridge the gap in health education and literacy that affects marginalized communities every day. EMBARK has afforded me the platform to teach my peers and the New Orleans community about the connections between heart and kidney health, the warning signs many never think to look for, and the screenings that could change everything.

This February, during Heart Month, I carry my father's story with me as a reminder that prevention starts with knowledge, and that every conversation about health matters. I've learned that advocacy isn't just about statistics or screenings. It's about showing up for people and creating space for conversations that could save lives - one presentation, one screening, one student at a time.