Meet Noah Griffith

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Noah Griffith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Noah below.

Noah, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

In 2018, at age 16, my world was flipped upside down when I was diagnosed with a rare, neuromuscular condition called Friedreichs ataxia. Because of the loss of balance and coordination that are the defining symptoms of the disease, I lost the ability to play baseball and basketball, which had been my passion for my entire life up to that point. That forced me to reconsider what I built my life around.

When I joined a clinical trial to help treat my disease months later, I began meeting other people who had the same disease as me. It was uncomfortable at first, but it forced me to face the reality of my future with FA because I saw that this disease hurt more people than just me. When I met people who had lived with FA for years, they also showed me that my diagnosis wasn’t the end – I still had a long journey ahead, and I could lay down and quit or I could get back up and fight FA.

I chose the latter.

I went on to become an ambassador for a company called FARA (Friedreichs Ataxia Research Alliance), and they have showed me what an impact something as simple as sharing my story can have on others. Now, that’s what brings purpose to life despite fighting a ravaging disease – being able to comfort and encourage others who are facing hardship and loss. I majored in journalism at Auburn University and have been able to advocate for people with disabilities through writing, I’ve created my own blog called Knowin’ Noah where I talk about my life with FA, and I get to travel to FARA events and speak to researchers and doctors about my diagnosis and how I have learned to fight FA.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Auburn University in 2023, and I best categorize myself now as a content creator. I write blogs about my life with FA, I cover high school sports in Lee County, Alabama for a local newspaper, and I advocate for people with disabilities as a social media influencer and through speaking opportunities.

My blog is called Knowin’ Noah. I started it near the end of 2022 as a way to share a message of hope and perseverance to others with rare diseases, but all in all, I think my blogs can help anyone who deals with any kind of grief or suffering (pretty much anyone). I have gone through a lot of hard things in my life: dealing with a chronic and progressive neurological disease, experiencing physical and verbal bullying through middle and high school, and losing my father unexpectedly in the summer of 2022. I want to use all of my pain to strengthen others because I know God can take what’s broken and use it for good. These are free posts that I currently produce without profit, but it’s also a means for me to process my own thoughts and live out my purpose. Who knows, they might turn into a book one day?

Being a huge sports fan, my journalism career started as a sports writer. I covered a wide range of athletics at Auburn, including Auburn football during the time of Bryan Harsin’s scandalous firing, the basketball team’s unprecedented climb to #1 in the country, the gymnastics team’s rise to prominence with USA Gold Medalist Suni Lee, and much more. Most notably, I was able to use my platform to advocate for accessibility improvements in the Athletics Department. I told my story of my horrid experience in the first-come-first-serve student lines to get into basketball games and how I was nearly trampled by rushing students as soon as the doors opened to “the Jungle” – Auburn’s notoriously rowdy student section. Consequently, the University changed its policy to allow students with mobility issues to forego those ridiculous student lines by reserving seats in the student section. And that’s what I want my legacy to be as a journalist – I want to spread empathy and inclusion by promoting disability awareness.

Simply put, I want to leave the world a better and more inclusive place than how I found it to be.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think living through the eyes of a “healthy” person and someone with a disability has allowed me to empathize with multiple points of view. That’s what allowed me to spur change at Auburn is the ability to put my emotion to the side and write clearly and fairly. Another key thing is being transparent. If you want others to feel what you feel, you have to be open and vulnerable.

My advice to any upcoming journalist is to be authentic. Don’t let all the journalism “rules” and style distract you from the message you want to communicate. Finding your niche as a journalist will set you apart from the crowd and allow you to thrive.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

The area that I’ve grown in the most has been contentment in my own situation. As someone with a physical disability, it’s hard not to compare myself to my friends and peers that are my age. Since graduating, I’ve seen my friends get married, move off and get good jobs right away. I have to fight feelings of shame and even embarrassment for not having done all of those things. I’ve learned to have grace on myself and appreciate the things and people around me that I am blessed with, instead of wishing for what I don’t have.

Evening walks with my dog, Schooner, along with exercise and prayer have helped me fight feelings of anxiety.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://knowinnoah.blog
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noah.griffith.26/profilecard/?igsh=MWFwZ3VzMWR1NnBobQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555486724271
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngriffithjourney?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Other: Work samples: https://padlet.com/ngg00051/opelika-observer-post-grad-reporting-61tztw0qyrmkio8b

Image Credits

Personal photo- Sara Potts (@sageandsatinphoto)