Future Plans

 

Back in 2016---I had originally wanted to give myself a chance in participating with this adaptive going away to college program for young adults with disabilities and getting to have that college experience w/ roommates and taking college courses. Until I looked on the website itself about costs for tuition-- I just completely blown with how expensive it was to be a part of something that I didn't think it was the right time for me. 

YEARS LATER

I have absolutely no information about the next phase of my life and trying to decide if it would end up being the perfect fit for me. I am not necessarily certain if I could even handle taking the next unknown leap of faith is gonna make me want to pursue this or end up being the worst mistake ever!!! I'd like to keep this as much of a secret from my friends as I can possible, until there is more legitimate info that would feel comfortable sharing with the rest of the world. Stay tuned!!!

Secretary Role (Update)

One of my favorite people in this world sent me an email with the sweetest compliment ever and just simply telling me that I've pretty much killed it with this new leadership role. It was only the first ever meeting with me as the newly elected secretary and it was such an absolute success!!! We had so many good laughs about random stuff and having discussions on what is next for us as a committee and just also trying to recruit new members!!! More updates to come at a later time!!

Self Determination Conference

SDM Presentation:

It was truly such a rewarding and incredible privilege to present with the Speakers Network on a subject that was most talked about during the conference itself. I was very grateful for this chance with getting to inspire and teach other people like myself about the issues that individuals like me face everyday. Our presentation went really well and it felt great to be able to inform people on the things that this alternative to guardianship can do for so many people in the world.. (Don't get me wrong on the fact that the reason I'm doing this is to get my voice heard and offering educational training to people who need it the most in their lives.)

One of the audience members asked us this question: Have you ever had an experience where you had someone in your life that didn't want to support you in a decision, that you thought was a really good fit??

(Sorry if I have already mentioned this before, but it was just what I thought of at the moment.)

Awhile back I was strongly considering of being a part of this apadative going away to college program and for me it sounded like the most perfect solution to what I was currently facing in my life. I felt like maybe this would be a greater opportunity to stretch myself out there a little bit more than I'd normally do but at the same time, there were so many unknown/unanswered questions that I had running through my head and little did I know what to expect from something like this. I wasn't necessarily sure if I could be away from home, the elementary school, my family and everything in between to go off to college for two years???? I didn't know what to think at this point in my life & figuring out what else could possibly be done in order for me to accomplish a task like this one, but then again I had never been away from home for more than a few days in a month... I felt like it was just the perfect way to stay closer to my friends & live the so called college experience!! The costs of it were super expensive and little did I ever know what to think about wondering if I'd have a good roommate who would be nice or respectful to me... it was just a lot of things. In the end, I ended up never applying for the program and despite how much of a long process it would be like-- I just felt really disappointated and emotional about what I thought was a good decision for me to make.. but somehow I knew in my heart that it wasn't probably the best thing to do (considering all of those many things I'm doing in my life right now.) Just Keep Swimming...

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SEVEN YEARS AGO--I was seventeen years old and just finished up my senior year of high school. I know that a lot of pple would have expected me to think of going away from home into what you would call the so college life, but if you don't necessarily know about my personal life circumstances I can only hope that will answer your questions. After I had attended this so called Disability National Youth Leadership Conference in October of last year, one of the staff who was with us mentioned their adaptive going away to college program called "Aggies Elevated." At this time in my life, it certainly sounded like an adventure and something completely new to see myself getting into with figuring out the decisions I'd have to make in this process. I have been a volunteer aide at this local elementary school for many years and never imagined myself wanting to leave that behind me, to start on this new journey of being more independent. To make this long story short, I never ended up applying to be in this program and as incredibly disappointated as I felt at the time-- there was not an option of me ever wanting to leave everything back at home. Over these past seven years of being a volunteer aide at Westridge Elementary, words will never be able to describe what a great life changing experience it has turned out to become. I have loved getting to help out so many awesome students over the years and learning from them has been such an absolute treasure for me, whether you know it or not. It has truly given me the opportunity to grow and step out of my comfort zone a little bit in a way that I never felt as comfortable doing at the time, but I am never gonna trade this experience for anything else in this world. I am so grateful for the two amazing teachers that I've had the privilege of working alongside with this year and I feel so blessed to have done whatever was necessary. Thank you both so much for an unforgettable school year and one that I will cherish in my heart forever!!

Three Days left until this school year is over... which I will admit has my mind all over the place. It has been such an amazing time for me to learn things that I never thought I'd see myself do. I am so grateful for the skills I have been able to take away from this year and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store. It is hard to even believe that another year has come and gone so quickly, but I'll never forget those many memories that I was able to make with my students. There is not one single thing that I would have felt like needed to be changed this year (expect for maybe when I didn't feel as though I performed various tasks as well I wanted to.) In spite all of the many ups/downs that I've had throughout the years from this experience, I cannot even begin to thank everyone enough for the appreciation and love that I've felt since coming into this chapter of my life. Thank you all so much for letting me have the volunteering opportunity of a lifetime and cannot wait to see the next school year holds for us!! 

New Adventures

Aggies Elevated -

This incredible program would literally be such an amazing experience for me and getting to learn more about being independent as well as living on my own. At this point in my life, I have so much going on and trying to figure out if it would be a good fit for me is kind of a mix of emotions. A few of the things I'd have to give up in order to do this is would be: (Giving up Insitute, Volunteering at Westridge Elementary, My Job, Ability First, Family & Friends) to participate in this 2 year program and live on the Utah State University campus with roommates. I would be learning how to be a little more independent and live on my own, which to me sounds super awesome and scary all at the same time!!! With everything that is happening in my life, I would need to be able to see if that could end up being a possibility for me and seeing where to go from there. I feel like instead of focusing on the things I'd be giving up and just realizing what I would be getting from this unique experience too. It's definitely a big step for me to be thinking about taking in my life, but at the same time it would help me to grow outside of my comfort zone. 

I also might decide to wait a few years until somebody like myself feels comfortable enough to live away from home. I know it isn't necessarily a definite YES for me at this point in time and maybe in two years I can apply for this program :) I would really like to have someone else to do it with and if that were the case, I'd feel comfortable enough going into it and not feeling so terrified at the same time!!!!

NINJA Alumni Retreat - (January)

This isn't necessarily a for sure thing at this point and if we can try to make this something that could actually happen, but I would love the experience of being reunited with my truest friends!! It would be held on the USU campus and getting to go back to be Staff would be an unbelivable experience for everybody involved.  All of those alumni participants would be the ones teaching the classes and running the retreat in a small way or another. I will definitely be sure to post more about this later on into the upcoming year in 2017 and see what happens from this point forward.