A Story of Embracing Your Punch
Affecting 3.4 million people, epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world. It would seem strange, then, that there is still so little awareness of the disorder and how to help those with epilepsy stay safe. South Bend, Indiana high school student, Bella Bauer, has made it her mission to help as many people as she can understand this common experience, by sharing her own personal story with epilepsy.
“It helped me push past any fears I had, and anything holding me back, and just helped me to know I can do anything I want to do.”
Upon sitting down with Bella, I had many questions. With such a resume at such a young age, there was a lot to discover about this bright and bubbly teen. But my first, most dire question for her was: What made you choose Celine Dion’s ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’” as your lyrical dance performance song??
With a laugh, Bella shares her passion for big voices as a way to fully express herself in dance. “I love dancing so much,” she says, “You can just do whatever you want, and feel the movement. There are so many different styles, too, that you can really choose what you want to do. I love lyrical [dance], especially. It’s so fun! It’s a moment where you don’t have to worry about anything else and just be present, and do whatever you want in the moment. I just love it so much. And I think it’s so beautiful to watch.”
But for Bella, dance is more than just beautiful to watch. “I didn’t take it very seriously before, but once I was diagnosed with epilepsy, that was really a big turning point in my life.”
“I made dance such a big priority in my life and used it as something to pursue,” she says. “It helped me push past any fears I had, and anything holding me back, and just helped me to know I can do anything I want to do.”
“They’re my biggest supporters and the greatest role models I could ever have.”
Alongside dance, Bella’s faith and her family have kept her motivated through difficult times. “A big part of my life is my faith,” she says, reflecting on what helped her to deal with her initial epilepsy diagnosis. “[Faith was] definitely a big part of it. Knowing God has got me, He’s got my back, He knows what He’s doing in my life. That was really big.”
Bella’s connection to her faith is guided, in large part, by the example set for her by her parents. “My mom, I look up to her so much,” she says (quick to clarify with a smile that she, of course, looks up to both parents). “But my mom, especially, in how she is so drawn to her faith. Even when things don’t go right, she’s just kind of sitting there trusting in Him, praying. And I look up to her so much in that way.”
This admiration keeps Bella’s relationship to her parents close, as does her role as the eldest of seven children. “I’m very close to my parents,” she says. “They’re my biggest supporters, and the greatest role models I could ever have. They’ve shown me so much about how I can persevere through life, and how to live life and have fun.”
“Some people can be very judgmental. It’s especially hard at this age.”
Simply being a teenager today requires a certain level of perseverance. In Bella’s case, this is made slightly easier through connections with her peers. “In my youth group, I feel like everyone is very open,” she says, though admitting, “at school it can be hard. Some people can be very judgmental. It’s especially hard at this age, and people can be very close-minded, it seems.”
When asked if social media helps or hurts this problem, she shares that it can, in fact, create more connection and more open-mindedness. But she also understands its adverse effects. “I think for sure social media can be really hard,” observes Bella. “You’re always surrounded by what is portrayed as the perfect person, and things like that. I also think it can be really hard because that’s all our life is filled with nowadays. And you only see a little bit of someone’s life, not really everything, what it truly is. It’s all kind of sugar-coated in some kind of way.”
This makes Bella all the more appreciative of the friends she has with whom she can be her full, authentic self and feel supported. “They’re just really understanding and super supportive in every single way,” she says, of her friends with whom she recently attended the retreat. “They’re all so sweet. And they know me well, and how to help me with what I’m struggling with because they know everything about me.”
“I really want to help those that are struggling to know that it’s OK. It’ll be OK. You can get through it and push past.”
While those close to Bella know well what it’s like to live with epilepsy, she feels that in general, most people don’t understand how the disorder impacts peoples’ lives. When asked what she wants people to know about living with epilepsy, she reflects on what would have helped her when she was first diagnosed. “During the time when I did have the grand-mal seizure, these aura episodes that I would have, those were very scary. I would want people to know how to take care of me in that sense. Like, keep me away from lights, or [anything] that might be bothering me, like loud noises. I feel like people don’t really understand, so they don’t know how to help and it becomes a more scary situation in that way.”
Bella hopes that her advocacy work through The Purple Project helps to create more of this understanding, and make both those living with and without epilepsy feel more informed and supported. “I really want to help because I know it can be such a struggle, personally, from experience,” she says. “I really want to help those that are struggling to know that it’s OK. It’ll be OK. You can get through it and push past. I think that’s really important.”
“I want people to know they’re not alone.”
“Embrace who you are and who you were made to be. I think that’s super important.”
The way Bella defines herself is truly multi-faceted, and includes a passion for pageants. “There’s no competitiveness within it at all,” Bella says, speaking to her experience competing in local pageants. “Everyone’s just lifting you up. I went to Miss Indiana, and I was kind of nervous at first. I didn’t know if I would know a whole lot of people. But I met so many amazing girls there, and they’re so unique, and everyone is so loving and empowering to each other.”
Happily noting that each competitor received big rounds of applause backstage from fellow competitors when performing their talents, Bella shares what a special experience the pageants have been for her. “It’s such an amazing feeling being surrounded by those girls. Everyone loves each other and you’ve only known each other for a week, but you feel like you’re best friends. I had so much fun. I feel like I’ve really grown in my confidence, and my interview skills and being able to talk to people more easily. I used to be kind of quiet, shy and reserved. So it’s really helped me in that area to just grow out of my shell, and meet a lot of people, and it was so fun. Such a great experience.”
“You’re unique, and everyone is so different. And we’re all created beautifully.”
Bella was crowned Miss South Bend Outstanding Teen 2022. Her involvement in pageant competitions is what first led us to Bella, who was seeking competition sponsors. We felt a strong connection between Bella’s work, and the Embrace Your Punch mission of our Sour Punch brand, both of which promote overcoming adversity through embracing what is unique about you.
When asked what the phrase “Embrace Your Punch” means to her, Bella reflected on a recent experience at a faith-based retreat, where the message shared throughout the retreat was very similar. “It means knowing that you’re unique and everyone’s so different, and we’re all created beautifully,” she says, defining the message from her perspective. “We’re all so beautiful, but we’re all so unique in our own ways, too. And I think that’s so beautiful, and [we should] embrace that. Embrace who you are and who you were made to be. I think that’s super important.”
“Just be kind to everyone you meet. You never know who might pop into your life someday.”
When asked what’s ahead for Bella, she reminds us that – along with all of her many accomplishments – she will also soon be a published author. “We wrote a book called The ABC’s of Epilepsy that I really want to share with lots of classrooms, especially within the South Bend, IN area,” Bella says. “I think that’s so cool because books are such a fun way of educating, rather than just talking. I think it’s a great opportunity for kids to learn more. And it can be for anyone, it can be someone with epilepsy or without it.”
Her education efforts around epilepsy are furthered even moreso, says Bella, through her participation in pageants. “It’s been so great being in the pageant realm because it gives you a platform,” she shares. “That’s been really great helping me to grow in that area, and reaching out in the community with something I’m passionate about. It gave me this idea, and was the root for all of this, and I think that’s so cool.”
We also think it is very, very cool. As is Bella’s parting advice: “Just be kind to everyone you meet. You never know who might pop into your life someday, and then you’re super close within a year. Really [by] just being kind to everyone, you’ll find someone you can easily click with, and a good person.”
See how you can help Bella promote epilepsy awareness & advocacy by following her on Instagram @maoteenin_southbend!
