Jeremy Mitchell
Special to the Times-Gazette
A local foundation is offering a new scholarship for students with epilepsy, but those who wish to apply will need to act quickly.
Seize Your Future was founded in 2023 by El Dorado graduate Niomi Ndirangu, who has struggled with epilepsy since the age of five. Since her early diagnosis, Ndirangu found that in addition to the medical implications of epilepsy, the seizures also had an impact on her learning, social interactions, and mental health.
She would frequently have partial-complex seizures during class, which appeared outwardly as staring off and being inattentive. Teachers struggled to understand her seizure condition and how it affected her in the classroom, initially accusing her of being lazy or not paying attention. Afterwards, Ndirangu would have no memory of the seizures and was left unable to explain why she had not retained the material taught, or why she struggled on tests.
It wasn’t until a teacher addressed the classroom “behavior” with her mother, that teachers and administrators began to understand what was going on.
Now, Ndirangu has been seizure free for several years and has been able to stop taking medications, but still vividly recalls the struggles that she’s faced.
“I continued to have seizures during class throughout my childhood, and nobody knew how to take care of me.,” said Ndirangu.
She made epilepsy education her mission in life at an early age. She competed in beauty pageants throughout her youth and used the platform to speak to others about epilepsy.
“I decided that something needed to change.,” said Ndirangu. “That’s when I partnered with the epilepsy foundation and got epilepsy first aid training introduced for my school district.”
For her continual effort and advocacy of the disorder, she was crowned as Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen in 2022, making her the state’s first-ever African American winner. She continues to work with the Miss Kansas pageants and now hopes to use the Seize Your Future Foundation to further her goal of spreading awareness about her condition. Her end goal is to introduce first aid training in all school districts across the country and to provide support to the students who have epilepsy and face the same struggles that she had.
“A lot of people don’t realize that people with epilepsy are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and anxiety,” said Ndirangu. “I have struggled with all three. I want to help support students by providing journals for them to write in to assist with their mental health. I also struggled to maintain good grades because of the memory loss from my seizures. I never thought I would be able to go to college. I felt like I was stupid. This scholarship will encourage kids like me to go to college or trade school and will help them to be able to afford it.”
The deadline to apply for the scholarship is July 30th. Any student who has been diagnosed with epilepsy and intends to attend college or trade school nationwide in the fall of 2026 is eligible for the $1000 scholarship. Students may apply at https://seizeyourfuturefoundation.com/application/
Right now, the scholarship is only funded as a one-time award. The Seize Your Future Foundation is funded entirely through fundraising events and charitable donations, although they have applied for a variety of grants to help fund their mission. If you wish to help finance Ndirangu’s dream of educating the public about epilepsy and supporting the higher education of students who live with it, you can donate at https://seizeyourfuturefoundation.com/donate/
