As evident by my blog, Instagram, and podcast, I am constantly spreading awareness about organ donation as I am strongly passionate about this topic. I could go on and on about organ donation, but my main message to young teenagers is "Don't be so quick to say no to becoming a hero. We're all scared of what could go wrong, but yet, forget about the beautiful possibilities that come out of a situation". This is not just with organ donation, but rather with life in general. Yes...I know...it's pretty cheesy. But really, it's so true! We are all afraid of talking about death; I mean, it's not the most exciting topic. However, have you ever considered about the beautiful things that come out of death? One of these possibilities is, yep, you guessed it: organ donation! YOU can be the reason why someone is still able to breathe, hang out with friends, kiss their loved ones, or even laugh at their favorite TV show.
Now that I'm done with the sappy lecture, you're probably wondering, "Maya, that's sweet and all, but have you really done anything?". The answer is "yes". Although I am only 17 years old and I started when I was 16, I want to make sure that the world knows about organ donation. The truth is, organ donation is not talked about enough nor is its importance emphasized. I want to change that. I've looked for every single opportunity to make a difference by spreading awareness.
I have been on Zoom calls with professors from University of Michigan, Case Western Reserve, etc. where I talked to them about my passion project. I conducted a survey at my school to gather statistics about potential future organ donors.
By far, my favorite way that I've spread awareness is through my passion project's appearance in my local newspaper, The Medina Gazette. Newspapers in general attract a large audience and therefore, this was one of the best ways that I could spread awareness about organ donation.
Here are some screenshots of the article. However, if you are interested in reading the full article, the following is the link to the article.
