Champions for Intellectual Disability Scholarship

I was five years old when my aunt began teaching me the basics of ASL, and six when I was able to have a conversation with a young Deaf boy who visited my kindergarten classroom with his mother. I was eight years old when I met my friend with Downs Syndrome and began going over to her house to play. And I was thirteen when I took my first peer tutoring class and officially found my purpose in life. At the time we weren't allowed to do much by way of actual tutoring, so my time was spent mostly befriending and learning from the students I met. However, as I grew older and more experienced, my role in peer tutoring became much more involved. I would modify assignments in mainstream classes to fit the needs of my students, assist students with mobility difficulties, and in one instance served as a makeshift translator for a nonverbal student who was trying out a new motorized wheelchair. I was fortunate to make a lot of amazing friends during my time as a peer tutor as well. I attended the graduation of two of my students, as well as the funeral of one amazing young man who I am eternally grateful to have gotten to know. And through it all I never wavered in the conviction I was struck with at thirteen: this is where I want to be. My ultimate goal, then, was to become a pediatrician; ideally I wanted to be a specialist in treating complex cases and children with disabilities. Through my years of peer tutoring, obtaining my CNA license, and getting involved in HOSA my passion for medicine only grew. However, after becoming a CLA in my sophomore year of college and beginning to work in the lab for Ogden Clinic, I learned firsthand exactly what goes in to being a pediatrician. And it was here I realized that the MD route wasn't for me. My greatest passions in healthcare have always been communication, patient education and advocacy, and forming real connections with my patients, and though those things are certainly a part of being an MD the role just didn't seem to fit. On top of that I was struggling with mental health concerns, including adjusting to new medications and a more significant diagnosis. It was then, in the midst of a deep depression and sudden uncertainty about my future, that an emotional conversation with my girlfriend changed everything. Occupational Therapy. The more I read about it, listened to talks and podcasts, conversed with patients who had received it, the more I began to feel that Occupational Therapy was where I belonged. I was a peer tutor for six years straight and this career would allow me to continue doing everything I loved about it while also significantly increasing my knowledge and education, as well as my capacity to make a real difference in people's lives. So, I transferred schools once I received my AAS in Medical Laboratory Sciences and began to pursue a BS in Human Development and Family Studies with an emphasis in Children's Healthcare and a Minor in Disability Studies. This gives me two years of hard science and two years of soft science, with a diversified medical background to boot. What I want most of all is to make a difference in someone's life. To help a child find their voice and learn to advocate for themselves, to show a parent how sucessful their young one can be, to make healthcare a place where they feel safe and heard and understand their care. Thank You.