The power of Choice

  So   college  for me has  been a bumpy  ride to say the least.     From  being   terrified on my first  semester  of college to  powering through  to  the horrible inaccessible  experience at the  private university  down the street from my house.   Its been very hard.




  What makes it even harder was that I  believed  I  had no choice.  

 First Pay Check  12/15/ 14

      You  see as a disabled person  you do not  really get choices.  Ok  sure I had  the option of   choosing what I wanted  to eat and stuff but  the big ones i did not have a say.   In  high school I did not  have a say  where I wanted to work  and  messed up  on the job.   Back in  November  I  applied to a place  I have always wanted to work ever since I  went to  visit colleges back in high school.  I wanted to  work at the book store.   In  November  I got my wish.   This past week  I got my first pay check  and it felt good to earn money.  I am  one of the best workers.  I  take my job seriously and  am  learning a ton about the book business.   This is a far cry to  the placements  I had in high school.  I  chose what  I  wanted  to do.


 Now back to colleges, My  faith has been tested and if you asked me on  Friday morning will  I  finish college?  The  answer was.

  I do not know.

 A good problem to have 

  It has been  really hard to go through school with people that are ablest and who are not patient. I felt that I did not have a choice because when I  went in the spring  to apply to another school my parents  said no  i had to go  back to school that i hated. So  I did this past fall.  I took one class  from a teacher  whose cousin had CP.  So they understood me and helped me out with the projects  and  did not  think  anything of it.  I  had a fantastic  time there.  Which was  saying a lot.  I  always  felt respected. I  even had fun,

  Dealing with the administration was very hard though. After my advisor  was not nice to me  I   got  really sad.  It took a week to  recover  but I did.

     The day before thanksgiving I went to my advisor at the JC  who told me that I still had time to apply to CSU.  I thought i missed the deadline. I  got  right on it and was able to  apply before the window closed at the end of the month.

   On friday  I  got into  my first choice of schools for the fall of 2015.  I  am  soo happy.  I have options  I have  choice.



            I CAN NOW SAY  THAT IT IS NOT A MATTER OF IF  I  FINISH COLLEGE  BUT  WHEN  I FINSH COLLEGE.



   

 Now I have to chose my  path just like Pocahontas.  I might be able to finish  faster if  I stay at the private school but at least now  I have a backup plan
  This  was my favorite movie in Pre School.  Probably because  Pocahontas had my same skin tone 

  To all parents of children with disabilities  please  give your children choices, Teach them that  their voice matters.  Ask them what they want to be when they grow up and help them  get there.    Everyone should be given the power of choice.   Presume that all children can make choices.   Do not   try to guess what they  want  because you could be dead wrong.  Give them the tools and confidence to know that they can change the world.




 Got  Images from

http://www.manataka.org/images/Choices%201.jpg





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