Mihaela Brinzea (37 years old) is an incredible example of exceeding your limits every day, and doing more and more with faith, trust, very hard work, ambition and huge, unconditional support and love of a wonderful family. Diagnosed with hereditary neuropathy, a rare disease, using a rolling armchair for a few years, Mihaela always kept on fighting for her dreams. The disease never stopped her learning and getting spectacular results in school – even if it was not easy at all. She was valedictorian in highschool, graduated faculty with maximum marks, got a doctoral degree at the Economic Studies Academy in Bucharest and today she is an associate teacher at Pitesti University and also secretary in Department of Quality Management, at the Direction of University Programs. She adores her parents, angels of her heart without whom she wouldn’t have succeeded, is so grateful for all the chances that she had, loves reading, good movies, french and old italian music and is a huge mountain of optimism. This is her amazing story – a wonderful proof that, if you truly want something and work hard for your dream impossible doesn’t exist.

I don’t think I had ever met a more optimistic person – Mihaela is simply amazing, happy, grateful, full of modesty and a wonderful proof that we can create wonders every day with faith, trust, hard work and a lot of love.

A rare hereditary disease

„It’s the wonder that I’m still here” – this is the beginning of our story. There’s no tremor in her voice – simply joy and so much gratitude! Nothing looked different when she was born – but when she was one year old some problems appeared while walking. Went to the hospitals, a surgery for tendon lengthening followed. It was only the first one – she had 10 surgeries, as a child.

At the age of five they had got the diagnosis – hereditary neuropathy, a rare disease, degenerative, a chromosomal dysfunction. The malady evolves slowly in time, muscles become atrophied, appears a lack of force, inability to use them, peripheral circulation is affected.

„After 8 years I had finished with surgeries, but walking became harder and harder”, Mihaela remembers. She was also diagnosed with scoliosis and wore a corset for a few years.

Loved learning since she was a child

But all her medical problems never stopped her from learning. Starting from childhood, when she was doing her homework in the hospitals where she was treated. With a huge modesty, says she was „just a conscientious child”, but she did so much more. Her first teacher was so surprised – she was always in front of her colleagues, although spent many months in hospitals every year.

„All this time the disease was there, she is a friend of mine, we accept each other, now I can walk only using a rolling armchair, my muscles have atrophied, but as long as God keeps my parents alive we go on. I have some angel-parents”, Mihaela says, with so much emotion in her voice.

A brilliant student, then doctor at the Economic Studies Academy

Mihaela was valedictorian in highschool, graduated faculty with maximum marks, attended a masters program and then got a doctoral degree at the Economic Studies Academy in Bucharest. Everything, with a lot of hard work, faith, trust and huge support of her wonderful parents – her guardian angels every single day. Her mother stayed with her in the student dorm during faculty and masters, went to school together, became „soul mamma” of all her colleagues, who also supported her so much!

„On my first day of faculty I told my mother let’s go home – I can’t adapt! But she had encouraged me all the time, the next day was wonderful, my colleagues had helped me so so much! When I had the ceremony of finalizing the faculty it had been such an emotional moment – I had the final speech and one of my colleagues also invited my mother to say a few words – it was also their mother, they all called her „mamma”. When I had the final exam at the doctoral program it was so emotional and had defined us as a family, as support, we are inseparable, me and my parents”, Mihaela says.

Associate teacher at the university

Finding a job was also a moment to remember – what will we do was the first and most difficult question after finishing her studies. „But God was just around the corner and listened to my prayers and put an angel on my way, a person who had offered my first job”, Mihaela remembers.

That first job was as a specialty reviewer at the Association of Economic Faculties from Romania. Then she started working at the University of Pitesti, first as secretary for master studies then secretary in Department of Quality Management, at the Direction of University Programs.

Mihaela is also associate teacher at the Faculty of Economics and Law. „I’m here with God’s help, who always puts in my way the angels I need”, she says, with huge emotions, then she speaks with so much happiness about a dream finally came true. „My childhood dream was to be a teacher and it’s not possible that something small – even a disease – break this dream. Step by step I passed all these stages, I have a job and I’m also appreciated – it’s way more that I could’ve ever dreamt”, she says.

She loves every hour of her work, both as a secretary and with the students. „I’m an open person, I’m also closer to their age, I have a beautiful relationship with my students, it was my dream to teach, I feel fulfilled and do what I love”, she says.

The power to follow your dream

While talking, Mihaela laughs, optimism comes from every sentence, a huge gratitude also. For her angel-parents, then for all the other angels on earth who had helped her to make her dream come true. She doesn’t even consider to have done that much – although she certainly did.

„There are a lot of people who fight – as long as you have support and your parents help you nothing is impossible. It’s hard to overcome obstacles alone, you always need the support of the ones around you, but if you have people who support you somehow these obstacles fade. You have to believe that you are able to overcome them, it’s God first of all, otherwise you would’t have right people around you.

It was the desire not to disappoint, and the trust that I can really do that. And the internal force – I had fought as much as I could. There were cumulative experiences and forces – I had forces from the outside and tried to give the same answer, to show that yes, I can do it. The impossible is something just a little bit difficult to do, that’s all, it’s a possible a little bit harder to get, more steps are necessary”, she says.

Happiness? „That I’m still alive, that I wake up in the morning, that I have my parents with me, that I do what I love and I can enjoy the sunrise, flowers and people’s feelings. I love reading, watching movies and listening to french music and old italian music”, she says.

PHOTOS FROM PERSONAL ARCHIVE

Do you know a very special person? Someone who has followed his dream, built it piece by piece, with passion, energy and lot of soul? An usual, simple person who did something in life, who you can identify with, who can be, for others, a source of inspiration? Tell me about that person and let’s tell the others his/her beautiful story. Write me at specialstories00@gmail.com, here, on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.