Food Allergy Counseling: Interview: Lily Roth of Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition
During the 2014 FARE teen conference a few months back, I was
following their twitter feed and discovered a new resource for teens
entering into college: Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition. Written by a teen Lily Roth, and her mom, Nancy Popkin, it offers excellent, first-person, real world advice about the whole college process, from choosing the right program for you through
that first scary year on your own.
*As with everything health and lifestyle related, please
check with your medical health provider about your specific needs.*
I had a chance to ask Lily some questions about her
excellent site. Read on!
***
Allergic Girl: What are your food allergies?
Lily Roth: I have anaphylactic allergies to milk, eggs,
seafood, tree nuts, nightshade vegetables (potato, tomato, eggplant, pepper)
and spices like cayenne and paprika, plus a few fruits and I don't eat wheat
and soy because of another autoimmune condition. I also have asthma.
AG: What was your motivation to create your Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition website?
LR: I decided to make my Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition website because I felt like teens
with food allergies were kind of ignored. There is a lot of support for food
allergy parents and young food allergic children, but after elementary school
the support kind of ends.
For me, the whole college process was frustrating. During my
sophomore and junior year of high school, my parents and I went and looked at six
different schools within three hours of home. Some of the schools I did not
like and the ones I liked, didn't seem to have the right program, were very
competitive or were not in a desired location. The last school we visited was
the University of Pittsburgh. I fell in love with it from the moment I toured;
they had the academic program I wanted and they were in the perfect location.
The only problem was that it was six hours from my house, and at the time my
parents were a little nervous about me going far away.
At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I applied
and accepted to the University of Pittsburgh before the end of September. I
knew that I wanted to go to Pitt and my stubbornness was not going to let my
food allergies stop me from going to my dream school.
After the frustration of getting accommodations for my food
allergies and spending months trying to learn how to manage my food allergies
and other medical conditions on my own, I realized I would have loved to have
met someone who had done it before. I would have loved to have had a mentor who
could tell me how they did it, and I know that my mom would have loved to have
talked to a mom who had sent their child with food allergies off to college.
And because of that Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition (http://foodallergysurvivalguide.weebly.com) was
born.
It covers college application to college graduation and
everything in-between. It is also ever evolving and we are continuously adding
to it so that we can keep it as up to date and as comprehensive as possible.
AG: Who is the Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition website for?
LR: While it is mostly geared toward food allergic high
school and college students, there is also a parents only section and a section
for college guidance counselors.
We also have a chapter of the guide that is geared towards
newly diagnosed teens, and teens also managing other autoimmune conditions in
addition to food allergies.
AG: What tools and resources did you find most helpful in
creating the Food Allergy Survival Guide College Edition website?
LR: I found my mom to be a very useful resource. She is an
award-winning writer and she was very good at catching my spelling mistakes and
writing content for the guide.
As I was writing this guide, I was simultaneously
Co-Chairing a FARE committee of college students and parents that was writing a
guide for FARE to put out for teens going to college with food allergies and
their parents (the guide should be released soon).
The committee was helpful in coming up with tips for
students going to college with food allergies, which I found useful. Most of
the content though, has come from my own personal experience and things my
family has found to be beneficial.
AG: What would you do differently now that you have been in
college since the fall of 2014?
LR: I would worry less about what people thought about my
allergies. I graduated from Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA. It is a
small private Quaker school where everyone knows everyone and everyone is
accepted for who they are. All the teachers and staff along with the students
knew about my allergies, and it was just part of who I was--no one really cared
ore judged me for them, but I was still the food allergy kid.
I went into college with the mindset that I didn't want to
be the food allergy kid because I didn't want people to think I was weird or
weak. I spent a lot of time the summer before my first semester worrying that I
wouldn't find friends as amazing as my Abington Friends School Friends and that
people were going to think that my food allergies made me weak and that they
wouldn't want to be my friend because of them.
In the first hour of college, I learned that I was highly
mistaken. No one really cares about my allergies, and I have found amazing
friends who I love and trust to take care of me if I have anaphylactic
reaction.
AG: What are your three top tips for college-bound high
schoolers?
LR:
1. Don't be worried about living in a single. When we went to
the disabilities services for my apartment accommodation (because my allergies
are too hard to accommodate in the dining hall) they told me they could only
give me a single because they didn't think it would be safe to be using in
mixed-use. For a while I was disappointed I couldn't have a roommate, but
honestly I love having a quiet place to study when I need it, and the authority
to invite over friends whenever I want without having to worry about bothering
my roommate.
2. Don't choose your college because of your allergies. If you
don't go to the school that you love, you are not going to want to be there and
college isn't going to be a fun experience. Choose a college and then figure
out what accommodations you need to live there and study there safely. At one
point, my parents wanted me to go to Temple, which is close to home and while
it is a good school, I know I would have spend my entire time wishing I was at
Pitt instead.
3. Carry your epinephrine autoinjector. Sure Epi-Pens or
Auvi-Qs don't always fit discretely in your little black dress or in your jean
pocket, but they can be life saving and the reason that food allergies are
often fatal is because epinephrine isn't used fast enough. Even if you haven't
had an anaphylactic reaction before, you can never be too safe. A really quick
way to loose your parent's trust in your ability to go to college and be
independent is to not have your epinephrine on you.
AG: Where can we find you?
LR: You can find me
volunteering as an EMT, doing community service, playing tennis or studying
(you have to do a lot of that in college.) As far as social media goes, you can
find our guide, Food Allergy Survival Guide-College Edition on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/foodallergysurvivalguide)
and Twitter (https://twitter.com/fasurvivalguide).
You can also find me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/lily.roth.37)
and Twitter (https://twitter.com/lilzforthrilz)
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| Lily Roth, used with permission. |
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