"I Am. . .So Much More Than You See!"

Imagine walking into an interview and not knowing anything about the job you are interviewing for? I feel like this is the situation I am in every time I go to an interview because it seems like the jobs in education are not posted with job descriptions. Interviewing is a very daunting process for anybody, but for somebody with a physical disability it can be an even more nerve wracking process because you are worried about being judged based on your disability. Recently I was interviewing for a long term substitute position and towards the end of the interview I told the principal that I would not use my walker in the classroom because I only needed it to walk long distances. She responded by saying, "Thank you for being so open about it. You may have to chase a student sometimes and sometimes the safety of our students comes before our safety." I felt this was a totally inappropriate comment and honestly it made me not want to work at this particular school. Actually wh...

Imagine being a student teacher teaching a lesson about fractions. Now imagine that one of your students interrupts the lesson to ask you, "Were you born this way?" This is exactly what happened to me and boy was I shocked! I could have broken out into the Lady Gaga song ," Born This Way" to answer her question but instead I asked her, "What do you mean?" I wanted to clarify the question she was asking me and I also wanted her to try to form her question in a more appropriate and specific manner. I then answered her question by saying "Yes, I was born with my disability." I really needed to go home and reflect before I could explain my situation to the students. Honestly, I was very upset by her question because it showed me that my students do see me as different from their other teachers. The next day I explained more about my disability to all of the students in my various resource room groups. It ...

Can you imagine being the only person in a graduation ceremony not wearing a cap and gown? You probably would feel like you stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of black. The person sitting next to me at graduation was that girl and she is one of my best friends. Becca drove six hours to celebrate my graduation and hold my arm during the diploma ceremony, so I could go on stage with the confidence that I would not fall. When I asked her to help me walk at graduation she was so happy to be a part of my special moment. During my senior year of college, I was falling a lot but had not gotten the walker yet. Therefore , I needed to hold somebody's arm when walking outside at night. I would often ask my friend and roommate Leath if I could hold her arm while I walked and she gladly helped me. Finally, when my friend Arielle and I were in Las Vegas celebrating our 21st birthdays together, I walked so much on the first day that by the last day I needed a w...

My mom and I went on a shopping trip to find shoes for graduation a couple of weeks ago. Whenever we decide to make this daunting adventure to the shoe store, we know it is going to be a long and painful process. It is a difficult task to find shoes that are comfortable and easy to walk in but also young and stylish. Not to mention, I have an impossibly narrow foot. When we went  into this shoe store in Cary, NC, the young girl who waited on us was so nice and made it her life task to find me a pair of shoes that were comfortable and cute for graduation. I was actually telling her about how abnormal my feet are but she was able to empathize with me because she has foot problems too. In the end, I found two fabulous pairs of shoes that are stylish and unbelievably comfortable. I ended up going back to the same shoe store with my Aunt Debbie the next weekend and once again the girl who worked at the store treated me with kindness and respect. As I was walking to the car, th...