Senior Mikayla Stevens was scared — scared for herself because she did not know what was happening to her.

Stevens’ eyes looked far away as if she were reliving the moment a second time.

“I was only 14 at the time,” Stevens said.

The pain that she felt was something she had never felt before.

“It was unbearable,” Stevens said. ” It felt like someone was stabbing my side over and over again.”

The pain begun for Stevens on a sunny day, July 3, 2013. While most students were getting ready to celebrate the upcoming holiday, Stevens was leaving for the hospital where she would later have surgery performed on her.

“My left ovary had grown a cyst-tumor, which was so big it had pulled over to the right side of my body, tearing my left fallopian tube,” Stevens, now 17, said. “Along with that, I had to get my appendix taken out.”

The surgery ended up going smoothly, but due to the fact that Stevens’ fallopian tube had to be taken out, she now has only a 50 percent chance of having a child in the future.

A fallopian tube allows a woman’s egg to travel from her ovary to the uterus.

“The doctors kept telling me that it was rare for this to happen to someone my age,” Stevens said. “Being only 14 and having a 50 percent chance of having a baby in the future is a scary thing.”

Although the surgery was a traumatic experience that no 14 year old would want to go through, Stevens let it affect her for the better, choosing to go to UM-Flint to pursue a career as a radiation therapist.

“I had to have multiple CAT scans and radiation. It was all interesting to me,” Stevens said. “And since I was on the other side of the table, I am able to understand both sides of the situation.”

Stevens has grown to love the idea of being a radiation therapist and can see herself being passionate about it.

“I love helping people, and I think helping to defeat cancer is a great thing as well,” Stevens said.

Junior Layna Brown, Steven’ cousin, believes that Stevens will go far in anything she chooses to do.

“She is so determined,” Brown said. “When someone says she cannot do something, she makes sure she does it or makes it happen in the future.”

Along with excelling at school and wanting to help save others, Stevens has grown a passion for fashion.

“I only got into it (fashion) recently,” Stevens said. “But social media was a great impact on me.”

Stevens often finds herself using a variety of apps, such as YouTube and Instagram, to get inspiration.

“I have developed my own sense of style,” Stevens said. “And being able to online shop is a gateway to buying clothes.”

Senior De’Asha Mitchell, Stevens’ best friend, looks up to Stevens’ ability to do anything she sets her mind to doing.

“I look up to Mikayla,” Mitchell said. ” She’s a bright and outgoing person. Anything she set’s her mind to I know she can achieve.”

Stevens is a strong believer that fashion can change people for the better.

“I believe that it (fashion) can gain confidence in anyone,” Stevens said. “If you look good, you feel good. It’s helped me in that aspect.”

Stevens feels that wanting to be a fashion stylist or wanting to be a radiation therapist helps define her as a person.

“Through my clothes I can express my own sense of style and personality. Becoming a radiation therapist, I will be helping others,” Stevens said. “Through both of these I can impact myself or others.”

Brown is excited for what Stevens’ future holds for her.

“I’m already crying,” Brown said. “Soon she won’t be a high school student anymore but in college, and that’s a huge step in life.”

Whether Stevens makes a difference saving lives as a radiation therapist or changing lives through fashion, she plans on intertwining both into her future.

“I’m going to have to make my scrubs a little bit more fashionable, and for my liking,” Stevens said, chuckling at the thought.