Have you ever wondered if your fear of looking dumb is holding you back from doing amazing things?  I have.

And it really got me to thinking, as I mentioned already…. how many of us don’t ask the questions because we are afraid of looking stupid, or silly, or uneducated? And then I thought… that’s just, well, silly! How can people know what they don’t know? You don’t just inherit BRCA information and education along with the BRCA genes, so why would any of us be afraid to ask the questions? I don’t know why, but I know that we are. At least some of us… me, I have been… I feel that since I have this background in helping others in the BRCA community that I should just automatically know ALL THINGS BRCA. But I don’t. I know some stuff, of course. Enough to fill a book and all, but there is still so much I don’t know. If we aren’t willing to admit that, and to risk asking questions, then how can we learn? And if we don’t learn, how can we grow? And if we don’t grow, how can we make the future better for the next generation of mutants?

So our challenge to you is this:

Ask the questions. Ask all of the questions! No matter how small or big. Ask what DNA actually MEANS. Ask what A C T G means, and what a nucleotide is. Ask WHY having a mutated gene puts you at risk for certain illnesses, ask why data sharing is important, heck, even ask WHAT data sharing IS, and go ahead and ask why any of it should matter to you. Because you may not realize it now…but it actually does matter to you…it matters to all of us.

Citizen Science… the term is growing on me. I don’t want to leave my health, my life, the health and lives of my children, in the hands of other people – no matter how smart they are! No matter how many degrees they have – they aren’t going to love me, or my kids any more than I will. For my sake, for my family’s sake, becoming a Citizen of Science, while a bit intimidating (and frightening and overwhelming and big, scary words and thoughts and people with years and years of specialized education, and have I bitten off more than I can chew?? oh, oops, I digressed!) is also something I know that I CAN do. Even me, the terrible student who barely graduated high school, with some college classes (but not much!) in her past can dig in and figure this stuff out, which tells me something important….if I can do it, then anyone can do it. If I can learn this stuff…you can learn it too… and Andrea and I are going to dragbring you along for the ride….AND our goal is to make it an enjoyable ride at that. 🙂

So go ahead, ask us anything. We’ll do our very best to help make it understandable for all, just hang in there with us as we learn it along with you, then translate it into plain-speak. 🙂

Teri