• What is Maia’s Transplant Tapestry?

Inspired by the positive feedback of my kidney transplant piece, I wanted to expand upon that story and further inform on what organ donation truly is and the importance behind it. Through this newspaper column, I will be writing articles about organ donation and the different aspects of it including the process, the impact of such, misconceptions, and much more with information on the New Jersey Sharing Network (NJSN)—New Jersey’s organ procurement organization. I will also be sharing tidbits of my own story to provide deeper personal insight into what it means to live through such an experience. 

• Who is Maia Goldman?

I am a current senior at Tenafly High School. You may know that I’m president of the Model UN, Japanese Cultural Club, or a drum major for the THS Marching Tigers. I am those things, it’s true. However, this column will be dedicated to showing a different side of myself: the individual who has made it a point to live my life in honor of my two kidney transplant donors. 

Having lived my entire life with the complications of end stage kidney disease including two kidney transplants, extensive dialysis sessions, multiple IV infusions, minor procedures, and more, my journey with this battle has been ubiquitous throughout my entire life. 

I know how overlooked and unfamiliar of a topic this is to many people, especially high school students. I used to be afraid to come forward about this part of my life out of fear of immense judgement and ostracization. However, earlier this year, I was lucky enough to receive a second kidney transplant ten years later and after multiple months of dialysis at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. It was like magic—suddenly I got a change of heart about my experiences with having a chronic disease.

While this journey has been long, tedious, and hard, I discovered my purpose. My ambitions are rooted in trying to mitigate the suffering of others, as I understand what true suffering is, and I know how much pain there is around the world. Therefore, I’m committed to giving marginalized groups a voice, and spreading awareness about this relatively relevant topic is my first step.

• Who is the target audience of Maia’s Transplant Tapestry?

Truthfully, anyone! Although I’ll be writing this column to cater to a high school audience, I aim to spread awareness and educate everyone on this important issue within our society. Anyone can benefit from learning more about organ donation. However, I must emphasize my desire to have high school students engage with my content. I think that encouraging conversations among individuals during their adolescence, as this is a critical period in our development where we’re beginning to truly understand and make impactful contributions and decisions that can influence others around us—myself included! 

• Why is this column currently relevant?

According to the CDC, kidney disease is one that is silent and one that affects 35.5 million adults in the US—and it’s not stopping anytime soon. Therefore, organ donation is more important than ever, and having more information on how to spread this cause is the key factor to promote more people to get involved in organ donation. 

One person can save up to eight lives through donating organs—their heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and small intestine. While this event would only occur in the case of a deceased donor, registering to be considered to be a deceased donor occurs when the individual is alive through a DMV, the National Donate Life Registry, or your state registry. Therefore, spreading awareness about this even being a possibility is so important, and that’s what I intend to do through this column. 

• What makes Maia’s Transplant Tapestry especially unique? 

This isn’t your average advice or information column. I’ll be intertwining my own personal experiences to add a personal spin to Maia’s Transplant Tapestry to make this column more unique and engaging. Additionally, with your permission, I want to include your experiences to inspire others to help promote this cause, adding more of a personal element to this. It’ll be like our little community and it’ll be great, trust me! 

Feel free to reach out at [email protected] to share your story, or if you just have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns. I’m open to anything! 

• What sort of articles can be expected in the future?

Some articles that I hope to produce in the future include:

• What organ donation actually is as a whole
• The difference between organ and tissue donation
• Pieces elaborating on the NJ Sharing Network
• How you can help promote this cause 
• What dialysis is
• The difference between a living and deceased donor
• The overlooked emotional challenges of living with such a condition

If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to see from me, don’t hesitate to reach out! 

• What role does Maia’s Transplant Tapestry play in the overall THS community?

Maia’s Transplant Tapestry will educate, inspire, and empower the overall student body to want to contribute toward organ donation. Organ donation is a crucial topic that goes commonly overlooked in high school education, so I hope to provide insight on the process and need for organ donation to show just how important it truly is in our society. Additionally, I want to interweave pieces of my story to evoke more empathy and a deeper desire to help people want to understand the human impact of organ donation and make a difference.