As it is the end of the school year, students across the country are graduating from their respective schools, including Katrina Gossett and Zak Schmoll. They are different ages, live in different cities, and were recently profiled by different newspapers. But they share at least two similarities: they both have spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and they aren’t letting it hold them back.

Katrina just graduated with honors from the University of Chicago Law School. With her assistance dog Duke by her side, Katrina was the first wheelchair bound student to graduate from the school. During her three years at the University, she worked to make the school more accessible, in addition to her course study, work at a legal clinic, and participation in a law school musical. Click here to read the full article.

Zak will be speaking during his graduation ceremony as the salutatorian of his class. The seventeen year-old has been in a wheelchair since the age of 3 and despite enduring multiple surgeries to counteract the effects of SMA, Zak excelled academically. He hopes to turn that success into a business degree and possibly into a career in the business-side of sports. Click here to read the full article.