After epilepsy diagnosis, Valedictorian graduates with 33 college credits
Jun 2, 2025
Posted 6:20 PM, May 22, 2025 and last updated 7:50 PM, May 22, 2025 on kjrh.com
TULSA, Okla. — Zoe O’Hearn enrolled in her first college course in August of 2022 at just 13 years old.
By then, she was already academically a tenth grader, skipping grade levels as she craved a more rigorous curriculum.
Three months later, she had her first seizure, and it changed her life forever.
“I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2022,” she said. “My first seizure wasn’t expected. It was early in the morning. I scared my brother with it because he thought I was being weird, and he didn’t like it.”
That first episode was the jumping-off point. Zoe said from there, countless doctor visits, tests, and experimenting with medication in hopes of making the seizures more predictable ensued.
“For the longest time, it was hard for me to mentally deal with it,” she said. “I almost just have to like move along. Trust that these medications and my support will be there and that God will take care of me, and so going through the day, as I said, there’s always that fear, but I just have to trust in the people around me that they’ll care for me no matter what.”
In her case, there are no tell-tale signs or symptoms to let Zoe or her caretakers know that a seizure is coming on, making things even more frustrating for her and her family.
Zoe’s perseverance didn’t skip a beat through her medical journey. As she worked to figure out what this diagnosis meant for her life, she poured more and more into her studies.