Amy Purdy

When you are truly you and share who you are with the world and be confident in who you are, it doesn't matter what size you are. It doesn't matter what your different body parts look like.

The way I look at it is, we all have disabilities.

I didn't think about money or cars or anything like that.

What's cool is that Oprah is the same person on stage and in front of a camera as she is off stage and behind the scenes. She speaks the same way on camera as she does off camera.

To be able to walk down the street and have people stop you, not just because they recognize you, but because you somehow personally touched them, it's amazing.

I like moving, challenging myself.

I tried snowboarding at 14, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I snowboarded every day off I had, every weekend I had off of school, every holiday we had off from school, and it became a huge part of my life, not just what I love to do, but really just kind of who I was.

I'm really motivated by music, and I love dancing, even if it's just by myself in my room or if it's going out with my friends.

I lost the life that I knew, and I really had to rethink my future and think about my core values and the things that I love, and my passion, and that's really what helped me move forward. Also, for me just being grateful for what I had in my life versus on focusing on what I was losing, that really helped as well.

I love the smell of rain, and I love the sound of the ocean waves.

I knew what I didn't want. I didn't want people to feel sorry for me. I didn't want people to see me as disabled. I wanted to live a life of adventure and stories.

I got this second chance at life, and I live it.