 "Photo: Chi Brown/Echo photo editor")
Looking at 5'7" public health junior Sharquilla Howard, you'd think that all was perfect.
No one would ever guess that she has been fighting a six-year battle with an autoimmune disorder called lupus.
"I remember when I was first diagnosed," said Howard.
"I was 15 years old and from that day I knew it was something my family and friends were going to have to deal with for life," said Howard, adding that there is no cure for the disease.
Her mother, Betty Howard, said she didn't know what lupus was at first.
"I was shocked that my daughter had a disease, though," she said.
"I cried at first, prayed, put it in God's hands, and let it go."
According to Medical News Today, individuals with lupus have hyperactive immune systems that attack the body's own healthy cells and tissues.
These attacks, or "flares," cause inflammation and damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, and the heart and lungs.
Lupus has caused Howard to have lung disease, asthma, hepatitis and arthritis.
"When my lupus gets bad I get back pain, joint pain, and fluid in my joints.
It is an unbearable pain," she said.
Lupus can strike men and women of all ages, but 90 percent of individuals diagnosed with the disorder are women aged 15-44, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.
Women of color are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder, which experts say is genetically based, but triggered by environmental factors.
"Freshman year was the toughest year for me," said Howard.
In her freshman year Howard was hospitalized when a severe lupus flare attacked her lungs.
"I had fatigue. It was painful," she said.
"Nothing could help it but rest. I had swollen hands and knees. On a scale of one to ten the pain was a ten."
Howard was hospitalized for two weeks and in bed for another two weeks.
She said her GPA fell from a 2.8 to a 1.9.
"I felt like I was going to have to drop out of school," she said.
She said that most of her professors understood her situation and gave her time to make up her work.
According to cure4lupus.org, 20 percent of people with lupus have a close relative who already has or may develop lupus.
But Howard's two brothers and sister are free of lupus.
According to experts, sunlight, fatigue and stress can exacerbate lupus.
"I have seen her come a long way with her illness," said Howard's mother.
"I am so proud of the struggles she has overcome."
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