There are two kinds of people: the ones who eat school lunch and the ones who bring their lunch from home. For most students, the choice of lunch is merely a preference. For students like Amanda Pottorff, there is no choice.

Everyday, junior Amanda Pottorff brings a lunch from home to school.

“I can’t have gluten because I have Celiac Disease,” Pottorff said. “It’s an autoimmune disease. If I have gluten my stomach gets really upset.”

Celiac Disease has been a part of Pottorff’s life for years.

“I had symptoms since I was two but was diagnosed when I was 11. Throughout elementary school and stuff I just remember always feeling sick and off. I just thought it was normal. When I realized it wasn’t, I still didn’t know why I had those issues,” Pottorff said.

When Pottorff was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, eating at restaurants was hard.

“It was a little more difficult at the time because there weren’t as many options, especially in restaurants. A lot of things weren’t gluten free but now there’s a lot more restaurants making gluten free pizza or pasta and those sort of things,” Pottorff said. “I mean there’s certain foods that they don’t really make gluten free and I kinda miss those but I still have yummy food.”

Although Pottorff faced difficulties in her diagnosis, she was not alone, which made staying gluten free easier.

“It wasn’t much of a struggle for me because my dad had been diagnosed not too long before so we both had to be gluten free together,” Pottorff said. “It wasn’t just me.”

Pottorff embraces any difficulties that come her way regarding Celiac Disease.