A Sacred Heart University student has founded Connecticut's first cheerleading team where all of its members have a disability.

Paige Romano, 20, of Bridgeport, recently led the team to their third national championship.

The junior, who wears two hearing aids, went deaf when she was 10 years old and in the fourth grade.

Romano will undergo her 23rd surgery Monday at Yale to regain her hearing.

She told News 12 she remains optimistic.

"I'm going in for emergency surgery and you don't know what to expect. It could always be worse," Romano said. "There are so many things out there... And I would just tell people to embrace the life they're living and be grateful for what you have because you never know what diagnosis or what could happen tomorrow."

Regardless of the surgery’s outcome, her mother is confident Romano will land on her feet.

“I'm over the moon proud of her,” her mother said.

Romano said her ultimate dream is become a schoolteacher and be a positive force in the lives of all children.