2025 Sadie Campbell Weber HS

My name is Sadie Campbell and I developed an anxious tic in my junior year. This is how it started… I grew up in a little bit of a broken home. My dad was an alcoholic, and had been cheating on my mom for years. He is a narcissist and a sociopath which means that my siblings had all been emotionally abused for years. Still, he is my dad. So the day he left was one of the worst of my life.

I was 8 years old; I came home to my mom crying on the couch. I honestly had no idea anything was going on, so I was shocked when she told me daddy moved away. I was nothing but confused and upset. That day was a very significant turning point in my life. For years, my mom didn’t tell me what he had done. When he eventually gained custody of me, my sister and my brother, slowly more and more came to light, still, I wasn’t mature enough to recognize the abuse happening. However my older sister was, and she stopped coming to dads house with my brother and I. I felt more alone.
At the time we lived in California, when my mom told us we’re moving to Utah. My world simply felt like it was crashing and burning. We went to court and left with an agreement that we would visit my dad every summer and school break. I was 13 and knew more about my dad, who he was, and what he had done. Visiting him got harder, but living in Utah became increasingly easier. I made new friends, discovered I love performing, music, and mountains.

Every year at fall break, I broke out into hives all over my body. It was simply from anxiety. I kept going to my dads anyway, because I didn’t know how to say no to him. This all came to a stop at the beginning of my junior year. It was right before fall break again, and I noticed something different. I developed a tic, which was my head moving involuntarily. I didn’t know what it was, but my mom was very concerned.

I saw doctors, and therapists and was diagnosed with an anxious tic caused by PTSD, which presents as Tourette’s Syndrome. So the next visit with my dad was cancelled. But the tics were getting worse, I couldn’t keep my head still, it made me dizzy. I didn’t know how to deal with the trauma so it took me a while, and it really hurt, but I had to cut off my dad. I was still involved in theatre and choir, and my teachers were concerned. I was usually a straight A student but my grades were plummeting.

Although you could tell that this was an extremely stressful time, I was determined to get better. I continued in choir and theatre, and music was one of the only things that seemed to calm it down. I could sit still when I was singing, and I held on to that. I received so much support from my siblings and my mom, Eventually with therapy it was under control. I discovered how many people truly cared about me, and it made me want to be a better person. I worked hard to get out of the slump I was in and get my grades up. And then, it was time for senior year.

After putting all I could into the theatre department, I really wanted a lead. I worked my butt off and realized I could do difficult things. And the greatest thing happened: I was cast as Gabriella in our fall show High School Musical. When I broke my foot 5 days before, I had to go on with crutches. But it didn’t matter, I did it, and I learned how to take care of myself. My teachers were so proud of me, I was chosen as my director’s student of the month which they only get once a year. Mrs. Poll says in my award: “She has a strong desire to be the best version of herself and the same desire to learn what it takes.” I am so grateful for the teachers and leaders who have shown me that I can do anything. I know that every challenge truly makes you stronger, and you lose people on the way, but you gain better ones.