When it came time to make my college search and make my college decision, as important as swimming was to me, my academics were just as important. I needed to find somewhere that combined what I needed for swimming and also what I needed academically. So visiting Loyola, the political science department was perfect. They had my pre law program, and they also had the coach that I knew was gonna get me to get the Paralympic Games and hopefully to medal. There were countless people at Loyola who really made my journey. What it was the faculty, the staff, my coach, Ryan Laffler. You know, behind the scenes, I’m getting ready for the Paralympic Games, and I’m swimming as part of this program, but I’m also a college student trying to have a normal experience. So I feel like they all worked really hard to keep me on track academically, to keep me on track swimming wise. And I think the NCAA and everything else granting me those opportunities, I mean, it was the best four years of my life. I’m Mackenzie Cohen. I’m a Paralympic swimmer, and Paralympians were made here.