Maya Rogers embodies the spirit of resilience at a level that most people aspire to achieve through challenging times. Maya was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) at eight years old in 2008 and has weathered the physical and emotional turmoil of 16 years living with the disease. Some of Maya’s most developmental years (ages 8-15 years old) were spent in a wheelchair, but as Maya reflects on her past, these years have shaped the person she has become. In her retrospective, she wouldn’t change a thing.
“JDM is part of me and part of my life, and while it has been difficult much of the time, it is my life, and I wouldn’t change it.”
Despite battling JDM most of her life, Maya has grown to embrace her relationship with the disease and found purpose through her gift of uplifting and advocating for those underrepresented in their fights. Early in her journey, she became an advocate through her experiences with Camp JAM, the Cure JM National Conference, and, most recently, the Cure JM Advocates Council. Maya has courageously shared her own experience as a patient voice for many years on Cure JM’s Caregivers Facebook group, where she has offered firsthand experience and calming perspectives that many parents have found helpful in supporting their own children’s needs.
She has always had a keen awareness of the presence that JDM has played in her life and even refers to it as a “second language” that she’s working to master. She has never let the grips of disease define her, but rather be a guiding purpose to help others.
“I think of myself not as someone who has JDM, but rather that JDM is part of who I am as a person. It has defined and shaped my life and my passions so deeply that I cannot think of myself apart from it. As I’m now two years into my current flare – slowly and finally weaning off oral prednisone – I am reminded of the incredible community that Cure JM has created through the JM Moms Facebook group and the organization as a whole.”
Maya is reminded to draw from the very strength and resilience that she shares with others in her own fight as an adult. Battling JDM for a second round has been challenging, as she’s largely advocating for herself in adulthood. Over the years, she’s been treated by JM pioneers like Dr. Lisa Rider and Dr. Rodolfo Curiel of Cure JM’s Center of Excellence at George Washington University, including a helpful visit this past August.
This can-do spirit has driven Maya to excel academically and professionally, including earning a prestigious fellowship from the National Science Foundation and now pursuing a PhD in Social Psychology. Beyond her own success, Maya has shared her gift of supporting others struggling to find their voice on the path to success. Throughout college, Maya always used her firsthand experience to inspire and support others. As an undergraduate, she was involved with student organizations that supported first-generation, low-income, and disabled students through mentorship to drive high achievement. As a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, she has been involved in the Graduate School of Diversity Office and the Community Scholars Program, both helping marginalized students succeed. All of these experiences helped her find her guiding purpose of pursuing a doctorate in Social Psychology, focusing on health behavior decision-making and persuasive communication.
“I am so thrilled for Maya Rogers to be the first recipient of the Cure JM Advocate Scholarship. I have greatly admired Maya’s fighting spirit and resilience in her longstanding journey with JDM, and am especially proud of Maya for all she has accomplished in her educational and career journey and in all she has given to JM families. It has been my great privilege and honor to be part of Maya’s journey with JDM and to be of some help in her road to healing. Congratulations Maya for this great accomplishment – well deserved- and for all you are doing for JM!” Dr. Lisa G. Rider
Maya’s accomplishments and accolades are plentiful, but to her, the relationships she’s fostered and the individual impacts that she’s made on other lives are immeasurable. We are honored to recognize Maya Rogers as the Cure JM Advocate Scholarship in honor of Lisa G. Rider.
