Keahu Kahuanui Instagram – #sponsored Where are you from? How did you grow up? Did you ever face discrimination? Was your neighborhood sketchy or safe to play in as a kid? How do you get to school? Did you live with extended family or a small immediate family? I come from a lower middle class upbringing. For a few years, I ate lunch provided by assistance programs at school. My family situation was complicated. I moved a lot and lived in both dangerous neighborhoods and incredibly safe ones. I’ll never forget the loud trains I would wake up to from across the street. I got bullied at home more than I did at school. The schools I went to were filled with diverse groups of kids from almost EVERY background; religious, racial, immigrant, family income level. In fact, my best friend was a Jehovah’s Witness. Much of my family was Mormon. I was fortunate to have health insurance coverage through college and I had ample access to doctors which was good since I was not a stranger to injuries. And while I did fine once I got there, I also barely made it to and afforded college. It was a mixed bag. It was colorful. The exposure to adversity and such wide diversity in experiences taught me both harsh and good lessons but I’ve made it this far alright. Question is: How/Why? Social determinants of health play a role in about 30-55% of our health outcomes so what or were there social factors that were critical to helping me push forward? Are there behavioral or genetic traits that contributed? Maybe it was a mentor, having pets to care for or exposure to a different way of thinking in my environment that helped me adapt at critical times. These questions can best be answered through study and research. The All of Us Campaign is looking to you to SHARE YOUR STORIES with them so that people like you, me and communities like yours and mine are INCLUDED in health research – while protecting your privacy and identity. This is science; beneficial, grassroot, inclusive science. See how you can be a part of it – LINK IN BIO. #joinallofus