When Iris SanGiovanni was entering high school, she wondered why her body wasn't maturing as as fast as the other girls in her class. Her family thought that maybe she was just a late bloomer. But doctors discovered an an intruder, a benign tumor near her brain that crowds the space between her optic nerves, and interferes with the function of her pituitary gland. Its presence is something that Iris has to live with. Iris shares her thoughts as part of an on-going series of essays produced in partnership with the Telling Room in Portland, a non-profit writing center dedicated to the idea that children and young adults are natural storytellers.