Andrew North was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 3 months old; he’s never known life without it. Now, in his late 20s and married, North has cultivated a fulfilling life despite facing adversity from the perceived limitations of his chronic disease.
North is an ACU graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in marriage and family services.
“There is so much more to people with chronic illness, and particularly people with cystic fibrosis,” North said. “We have interests, and we have desires, and we have talents and hobbies that indicate, you know, we’re regular people. We’ve got a lot of good to us outside of the health challenge.”
CF is a multi-system progressive disease. It affects the “epithelia of the respiratory tract, exocrine pancreas, intestine, hepatobiliary system, and exocrine sweat glands,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
Those living with CF can have symptoms like a cough with thick mucus, frequent lung infections and digestive problems. These are not all the symptoms, and they vary from patient to patient.
Coming from a family that values education and having CF has pushed North to continue pursuing a higher education. North earned his bachelor’s degree in counseling and applied psychology from Arizona State University.
The AbbVie CF Scholarship is an opportunity provided by AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, that was created “in recognition of the financial burdens many families touched by CF face and to acknowledge the achievements of students with CF.”
Since launching the scholarship in 1993, AbbVie has awarded over $4.3 million to more than 1,200 students.
North was the graduate student selected for the 2025 AbbVie CF scholarship and was given $25,000 to pursue a higher education. North said he was grateful for the opportunity to fund and support himself, but more so, the chance to make a difference.
“Obviously, the funds to keep myself alive are important,” North said. “But also, I believe that with more education, I have more potential to impact the lives of people around me.”
North said he also strives to support his family. Most men living with CF cannot have children, but through IVF, North and his wife, Natalie, have a son. In just a couple of days, North’s baby boy, Westley, will be 9 months old.
Andrew North with his wife, Natalie, and son, Westley (Photo courtesy of Andrew North).
“My life is really no longer my own,” North said. “It’s a balancing act of making sure I’m taking care of myself while also sacrificing my own time to care for him, to care for my wife as well.”
ACU’s Marriage and Family Therapy program is certified by COAMFTE, North said. It’s an accreditation through the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.
The AAMFT created the accrediting agency to indicate which programs meet the current requirements for MFT professional practice.
When choosing a graduate program, North saw that ACU was placed on the accreditation list and found that ACU’s program director was very responsive and welcoming. It was also fitting because even though North was raised in Arizona, he was born in Texas.
“Ultimately, my wife and I prayed over it and decided that this was the place for me to be,” North said, “and so, we shipped ourselves out here from Arizona.”
There are 11 people in North’s cohort in his graduate program—very different from Arizona State University’s, which is often ranked as the largest public university in the U.S., according to Nova Scholar.
North said he has appreciated the smaller class size as ASU felt more centered around the checklist of credits.
“I’ve been able to find a community of support and friendship that I didn’t necessarily exist in my undergrad degree,” North said. “That’s a real game changer.”
North said the students in his cohort are more than just classmates.
“We spend time together,” North said. “We hang out and we’re friends, and we have fun together.”
Coming into his graduate degree, North imagined that after graduation, he would spend a couple of years in his career, followed by returning to academia and ultimately teaching as a professor. However, today his future is a little more up in the air.
North said he still expects to come back to school, but maybe as a chiropractor. He said he would ideally like to have a practice that includes psychotherapy as well as physical therapy.
“The body holds onto trauma and holds onto pain,” North said. “Working as a chiropractor, I can help my clients find relief both from their physical ailments, but also from their mental ailments.”
Until then, North is working on intricate research for his graduate degree. He is studying spiritual behaviors among young adults of divorced parents.
