{"id":44244,"date":"2025-07-06T20:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T20:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/44244\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T20:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T20:42:12","slug":"apsu-alumna-overcomes-adversity-to-share-her-story-in-new-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/44244\/","title":{"rendered":"APSU alumna overcomes adversity to share her story in new book"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLARKSVILLE, TN \u2212 Austin Peay State University alumna Christina Reyes (\u201817) spent the early part of her college journey confined to a hospital bed, battling a rare bacterial disease while finding herself. Now she is sharing her battle for survival, self-discovery, and faith in her first book, Heartbeat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reyes enrolled at Austin Peay intending to pursue a journalism degree, but before she could truly start her studies, she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis \u2013 a life-threatening condition that hospitalized her for a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my second year when it happened,\u201d she said. \u201cWith the extent of the sickness, I actually had to take a semester off, and I was really disappointed because it\u2019d set me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reyes said the support from her professors helped her through her recovery, while her personal journal allowed her to tell her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in the hospital, I kept a journal to write my journey,\u201d she said. \u201cI kept that journal through the years and pulled it out as I began writing this project because it was a vulnerable space.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that point in her life, Reyes\u2019 views shifted, and she began drawing on her faith to accomplish her goals and dreams. \u201cI realized that life is too short not to accomplish these goals,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew that I wanted to publish a book, I knew I wanted to be a writer \u2026 [and] I have a short time here and want to make the greatest impact that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reyes\u2019 first published book, Heartbeat, focuses on this experience and the revelation she had during her hospitalization. \u201cIt\u2019s my story of when I was sick, dealing with not just physical sickness, but some things in my own heart that I knew I needed to deal with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reyes developed a deep appreciation for writing because of the support she received during her first year of college.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started my degree program, I had a professor share with me that my paper had ranked so highly she wanted to keep it as an example,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cThat\u2019s what really sparked it, my passion to be able to put words together for people to read and be able to relate to. That\u2019s the beauty of writing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reyes said her time at Austin Peay deepened her relationship with writing, and her professors gave her space to grow. \u201cI had some incredible professors who pushed me in my writing style,\u201d she said. \u201cThey really gave me the space to grow and be able to create my own style and voice \u2026 they brought out the potential I didn\u2019t know I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reyes\u2019s passion for writing came from her belief in the power of authentic storytelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pick up a book and can feel the vulnerability and be able to relate to a story,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cThat\u2019s what brings content to life, when you feel like you are a part of the story or that you can relate to what somebody\u2019s written.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges she faced, Reyes said her hospitalization was a profound time that helped her see her life in a new way. Now, she is sharing that journey with the world through the voice she gained from her experience.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s about] learning to trust the process and the journey that you\u2019re on,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cThat God is constant and he is loving and he is along with you on the journey, and that you\u2019re not walking it by yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLARKSVILLE, TN \u2212 Austin Peay State University alumna Christina Reyes (\u201817) spent the early part of her college…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,171,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-44244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114808235316879001","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}