Francelina Morillo was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in Queens, New York with an older brother and one older half-sibling. She says she was "plus-sized" her whole life, but she really started gaining weight during college after dealing with the death of her father, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 17 years old. Always a good student, Francelina earned many scholarships throughout her education at the University of Albany, and she is now studying for the medical school entrance exam to pursue her dream of being a doctor. When she reached her highest weight of 350 pounds in college, she realized she could no longer recognize the girl in the mirror and committed to losing weight, successfully shedding over 100 pounds on her own. Now 25 years old and weighing 267 pounds, she needs help to finish her journey. "I realize there must be so many people out there like myself, who are struggling with body image disorders, and think it would be helpful to speak out about it instead of struggling silently," she says. "I have overcome so many challenges in my life, and my weight is the one thing that is holding me back from achieving everything that I have dreamed of." Francelina looks forward to becoming more athletic when she gets healthy and also helping others who are struggling with weight issues.