COLUMBUS, Ohio —Stacey Moutima is a second-year student at The Ohio State University.

• She was born with a combination of Freeman Sheldon syndrome and arthrogryposis
• She’s beating the odds on a physical and social level
• She hopes to become a general pediatrician as a way to pay it forward, in honor of those who have helped her

Navigating one of the biggest campuses in the nation, she’s not your average college student.

Moutima was born with a combination of Freeman Sheldon syndrome and arthrogryposis.

Given the deformities in her hands, feet, and face, she usually takes the transit services to get where she needs to go.

But today, she’s walking a little less than a mile across campus.

She’s meeting up with one of her closest friends, Kene Oakfor, to go over a project.

She not only beating the odds on a physical level, but on a social level —waving and talking to everyone she sees.

“I’ve met like other people with her disabilities before and they’re usually very isolated, really protected by their parents, so they don’t have like really good social skills the way she does. So, I felt like if I ever talked to her, it would be me forcing the conversation, but this girl don’t shut up,” said Oakfor.

Buildings and busy spaces can be harder to maneuver through, but Moutima doesn’t let her disability get the best of her.

In fact, she doesn’t even like to say she has disabilities. Rather, she says she has limitations.

While there are only about 100 reported cases of Freeman Sheldon syndrome alone, her success rate was slim.

"Because one thing that stuck out to me, every time I tell this story when I was born, they told my parents I wasn’t going to be able to walk or talk or do anything, but here I am walking around campus, being told by my friends that I don’t ever shut up, or it’s just like a really nice…it’s really crazy to think about, like if I step back out of myself and I’m like, wow I really did that, and that makes me really proud of myself, because  I feel like if I would’ve given up at an early age, and just given into the fact that, oh I’m not going to be able to walk, or I’m not going to be able to talk, I would not be where I am right now,” said Moutima.

While she moves through the world differently, there is more to her than her disability.

“I’m smart, I’m funny, I’m a leader, I’m pretty, I’m disabled, but I’m also all those other things that I mentioned,” Moutima said.

On her way to class —walking more than a mile today —she does anything but complain.

Majoring in health sciences, she’s hoping to be a general pediatrician —looking to pay it forward in honor of those who have helped her.

“Being a pediatric doctor, you actually have to have that passion, and they are a really big reason of why I chose the path that I want to be, because I really did look up to them and I really did love what they were doing and I want to be that person for someone else,” said Moutima.

While Moutima continues to face adversities moving through life, she’s conquering her limitations one step at a time.