Two feet slide into skis, pushing down until there’s an audible ‘click’. In the skier'’s hands, there

aren't ski poles hitting the soft snow, but two crutches. Senior Hattie Bradley stands at the top of the slope, ready to go down.

“My parents always wanted me to have normal experiences,” Bradley said. “I’ve done a ton of things

that probably most people in crutches wouldn’t have done.”

Bradley was born with a condition called cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological

disorders that permanently affect body movement. It’s caused by abnormal brain development and the disorder affects muscle tone.

“I was born three months early,” Bradley said. “Because of this I developed brain damage in the left

side of my brain. Each side of your brain controls the opposite side of your body, so since the damage is in my left side, the right side of my body is damaged.”

Though Bradley has a disability, she persists in doing everything that she wants to do.

“Life is hard for all of us, but [Hattie] was given an extra portion of hard,” senior Ehva Hansen said.

“But she’s so resilient, she never gives up and she never says that she can’t do something.”

One of her biggest challenges comes from the damages on her right side, which makes it so

Bradley cannot play piano as she once did.

“My right hand is the one that does the most on the piano,” Bradley said, “but it can’t go as fast as

my other hand so I had to quit playing.”

But complications don’t stop Bradley. Bradley stays active through her hobbies: Creating resin

objects, playing guitar and teaching piano.

“I love how passionate she gets about hobbies,” senior Indie Heywood said. “She just gets so

invested and it’s amazing.”

When Bradley could no longer play piano, she started teaching it.

“It’s kind of hard to get a job when you can’t walk, so I hired myself,” Bradley said. “I started

teaching kids piano.”

But teaching piano isn’t the only work goal Bradley has. She aims to get into a career with forensic

science.

“I’m graduating high school with my generals, and then in the fall I’ll attend Snow College,” Bradley

said. “And then I'll graduate with my associates and after that I’m hoping to go to Utah Valley University and get a bachelor’s degree in forensic science.”

People who surround Bradley have also taken notice of her goals.“

[Hattie] has big goals for herself in life,” Hansen said. “And I love seeing people have a goal and then

take the steps to complete that goal. And she’s taking those steps, and it kind of gives me hope that I can make decisions and I can follow through with it.”

But Bradley doesn’t just inspire others with their decision making, she inspires them through other

ways as well.

“Hattie is the sweetest person I’ve ever met,” Heywood said. “She’s just a very kind person and you

can just see it in her face. It makes me want to be a kinder person as well.”

Bradley tries to be kind with all that she does, even when it can be difficult.

“I always try to be kind because I want others to be kind to me,” Bradley said. “Even if other people

aren’t nice back, because if I wasn’t nice to them then no one would be nice.”

Bradley tries to brighten students’ days by showing small acts of kindness. She shares part of her

personality with others by giving them one of her favorite things in the world, dinosaurs.

“Hattie always loves to give people little resin dinosaurs,” Heywood said. “I would say it’s to cheer

them up, she loves to give gifts.”

While Bradley has many goals and accomplishments in life, she has one wish in life that really

stands out.

“If I could do anything, I would twirl in a purple, poofy, spinny dress,” Bradley said. “I love the color

purple.”