Brianna Hewitt: NC’s resident beauty queen
Brianna Hewitt discusses her passions and goals, including her love for community service. Leading NC’s club, Heart to Heart, Brianna holds community services high on her list of priorities. “While in high school, I have developed to be a more rounded person,” Hewitt said.
March 29, 2018
Magnet junior Brianna Hewitt gradually accrued shelves full of trophies, admiration from friends, and love from her teachers through years of hard work and dedication regardless of the setbacks she faced because of persistent health issues.
“My high school experience has been different because every year something has happened to me. Freshman year my lung collapsed, my sophomore year my lung collapsed again twice and I had back surgery, but this year nothing wild has happened,” Hewitt said.
Her high school experience, although extremely successful, suffered after she started experiencing chest pains and eventually a collapsed lung, missing months at a time of instruction. On three occasions her lungs collapsed, once in 9th grade and again twice her sophomore year which hospitalized her long term but she continued to achieve beyond the average person, even in the magnet program. She remains grateful for all the support and help she received while bedridden.
“North Cobb was so supportive while I was out with all my difficulties,” Hewitt said.
The issues with her lungs came as a surprise to her and her doctor, even after countless rounds of bloodwork and check ups, she noticed something off.
“The first time it happened it took over a month to figure it out. Originally I was diagnosed with costochondritis which is just inflammation of the chest but my cardiologist wanted to do a chest x-ray just in case. After I took the test they stopped me while I was walking out, the doctor came out and said I had to go to the ER… It was terrifying,” Hewitt said.
These issues with her lungs came years after already she discovered she had another disease. When she turned six she found out she had apraxia, a disease involving brain connections, which makes everyday actions difficult to perform, including speaking. Amazingly she continues to push the envelope with these issues, along with taking on Magnet classes and pageants.
Pushing past multiple collapsed lungs and a neurological processing disorder called apraxia, Hewitt found herself by working to become a better person. Not letting the “random things” about her define her, she continues to speak out and participate in the community.
Annually Hewitt holds a walkathon every September that she uses to gather friends and spread awareness for apraxia, as well as raise money for research. She became a national spokesperson for apraxia once she started pageants, where she gained the needed confidence with help from the other girls she saw.
“I never thought when I was younger that I would ever do pageants. You always watch pageants on TV and see things like Toddlers and Tiaras but they are nothing like that, they are what caused me to share my story and have a positive outlook,” Hewitt said.
Brianna credits her development and change to her life experiences, high school, and her years in pageantry. Starting her career as a fifth grader, she did not receive a title until the 9th grade.
Shelves line Hewitt’s room adorned with trophies, all of which mark her winning a new title. For every win, she claims a loss along the way, working since the 5th grade to accrue them and winning her first in the 9th grade. “Pageants teach you that sometimes, it’s okay not to win,” Hewitt said.
Through her years of dedication and soft heart, Brianna Hewitt exceeds and continues to wow those around her with both brains and beauty.
