The young women at Padua Academy have a variety of amusing talents, fascinating gifts, and inspiring stories. Padua 360 took the time to hear a few of their individual stories and share them with you.

“Difference is beauty,” is what my best friend, Regan R. told me one day. I smiled at her, proud of her constant positivity. Until I asked Regan, I never really recognized that she did not always have that strong confidence that I always thought was untouchable.

Regan was born on July 6, 1997 in Wilmington, Delaware. She was a healthy, new born baby girl but she had a surprise that her parents did not know about. Regan was born without a right hand.

The cause for Regan to be born like this was because her right hand did not form. Nevertheless, Regan did not let having one hand keep her from doing the things she loved as a young child, “Basically, like any other childhood, I did the things every other kid did. I played a lot, went to preschool, and had friends.”

At around four or five years old, Regan understood she was different but knew that people would accept her for who she was. One of the first times she thought that maybe not everyone would accept her was in preschool. “My friend sat across for me on a circle time rug in preschool and was whispering to her friend. Her friend then blurted out, ‘Look at the kid with one hand!’ They kept laughing. I then kinda knew I was different from everyone else.”

As Regan grew older, she was always asked the question, “What happened to your arm?” and she answered she was born with it. It never affected her perspective of herself until she grew older.

“I started to get very…self-conscious about my arm. Extremely,” Regan explained about her pre-teen years. “I’ve been made fun of before by kids…but I don’t really get sad. I get angry.” Acceptance was what Regan was worried about. “Socially, I was self-conscious, even though I had a lot of friends. I was scared to meet new people because of what they would say.” Regan admitted that one of the times she felt most insecure was last summer because she was afraid of what it would be like going into high school. “I was very nervous going to Padua with my arm. I was afraid making friends would be harder.”

Not only was Regan affected socially, but also mentally. Her view on herself and her body changed as she realized she would never be what society tells us is “normal.” “I’ve wondered what it would be like to have two hands,” Regan said, “I would think, oh I would look cuter in that if I had two hands. I would have gone to that party if I had two hands. I would have been able to do that if I had two hands.”

Most people looking at Regan would think that she was physically incapable of doing some things, which was mostly sports. Regan proved them wrong when she decided she wanted to play basketball in 2nd grade. Learning how to shoot, pass, and dribble were all challenging, but ultimately she proved to herself that she can accomplish hard tasks just like everyone else. When it came time for the big tryouts in fifth grade, Regan showed everyone that regardless of their doubts, she was a fantastic basketball player. She continued playing for 6 years and is planning on playing again next year.

Regan’s arm did not always get the negative reaction some people believe it does. In fact, Regan has proved to be a role model. “There have been times when people have randomly come up to me and told me that I was an inspiration to them,” Regan recalls, “I remember when a ref for one of my basketball games approached me after the game and told me that she had a prosthetic leg and how I influenced her to continue playing.” Regan also received The Pope John Paul II Courage in CYM Athletics Award for playing basketball.

As Regan grew more mature, she was never sensitive about joking around with her arm. Regan recalled when she was younger and her parents gave her a prosthetic arm. “I had a baby hand…I never wore it. I still don’t know why we got it. I think it was my parents way of showing me that if I wanted to look like I have a normal arm, they would support me.” Regan and her parents did look into getting a prosthetic arm, however, Regan never wanted one.

“I don’t care what other people say. I am who I am…Difference really is beauty.”