Seeing firsthand the levels of COVID-19 spread in my community and the unwillingness of most of my community, including people I called friends, to use basic precautions against COVID-19 has shown me the amount of public awareness there is of disabilities and their impacts. My former youth group leader held his first meeting after the beginning of lockdowns while COVID positive and spread it to every person present. It was held in a crowded, poorly-ventilated building without masks. The pastor was aware of the health implications; he didn’t care. As both I and other members of my family have a very high risk of severe COVID-19, my family and I began isolating immediately after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Alabama. I am severely immunocompromised, to the point that I do not gain immunity from many vaccines. I have been in a coma on a ventilator while my body was bleeding out. When the rest of my community began reopening in May 2020, I stayed home. The last two years have also opened my eyes towards other areas of social inequity. I have seen firsthand the impacts discriminatory laws and hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community have had on my own friends, many of whom have had to transfer schools to avoid being harassed by students. The school they have transferred to, a charter school founded to provide a safe space for the education of queer teenagers, has been verbally attacted by gubernatorial candidates Tim James and Lindy Blanchard, has had to invest in bulletproof materials, and has experienced multiple threats of bombs and shootings in its two-year existence. These are, of course, accentuated and overshadowed by the passage of AL SB184, which criminalized gender-affirming care for any people under the age of 19, Alabama’s age of majority, using a combination of invented, misleading, and disproven theories as its justification. This also coincided with the first period of unrest due to police brutality and racial injustice I was old enough to understand and healthy enough to notice. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and in my own hometown, Emantic Bradford, Jr., and so many others culminated in the voicing of the pain of millions of people of color around the nation. I witnessed this, and for the first time understood the individual cost of the system perpetuated every day through inaction. I have left this ongoing pandemic with a new appreciation of the level of exclusion there is of the disabled community as well as others in marginalized communities. All of these instances of exclusion have served to change my view on social justice. Before the pandemic I was agnostic at best to activism and issues of social justice; now I stay informed on current events and on their impacts on human rights. Before the pandemic I was much more focused on myself and my own struggles; now I see the struggles millions of other marginalized people face across the nation and around the globe.

As a disabled person who regularly volunteers at several locations in my area, I have had the opportunity to notice areas of inequality for people with disabilities that many able-bodied people would not notice. This has been especially apparent to me since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as I have had to self-isolate due to my lacking immune system. This period of isolation has opened my eyes to the struggles many other people with disabilities face every day and it has motivated me to start addressing some of these injustices. I am currently working with librarians at my local library to find and address points of inequality in their current system. For example, there is currently a patio behind the library which is used frequently for events. The patio can be accessed via the library building or an emergency exit. You can enter the patio via a set of stairs or a ramp that is neither compliant with the ADA or safe to use. The emergency exit, the only way of leaving without passing through the library, is two stories of stairs. This is one of several inequalities I am discussing with local librarians along with ways of minimizing the exclusion they cause. Without advertising resources, people with disabilities have no way of knowing what few services that are provided exist. Does a grocery store hide any sales and promotions they conduct, not even applying them to customers who would qualify? Services for people with disabilities are advertised less than a sale on cereal at your local supermarket. The Hoover Public Library, where I have volunteered for several years, doesn’t even have a page on their website listing services they provide. Each individual event, of which there were over 100 in April 2022 alone, has its own page, including a time, registration page, and contact information for the librarian organizing the event. Some services for people with disabilities are provided: the children’s section has a growing collection of braille books. The librarians sometimes send pictures to or video call people who cannot go to the library. Yet these services’ presence on their website or any of the dozen other ways the library reaches out to the community is conspicuous only by its absence. I plan to enter the field of library science with a focus on the inclusion and accommodation of people with disabilities in library spaces. I started reading at a very early age and the library was always a safe and happy place for me. As I worked with our local librarians on the accessibility project, I discovered that very little research has been done nation-wide into this area of library science, and it is my desire to become an expert in this space and assist in creating more equitable library environments. As an undergraduate student, I plan to major in English with an emphasis in professional writing, minor in Human Rights in order to better achieve the creation of policies to help ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion, and focus research through my participation in the Honors College’s Global and Community Leadership pathway. I then plan to attend graduate school and major in Library Science. It is only through identifying and acknowledging injustices that they can be corrected. As Malcolm X said, “If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out that's not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven't even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound. They won't even admit the knife is there.”

From a young age my life has involved rare diseases, traveling to doctors appointments, and living in hospitals. This all came to a head in 2016, when I spent part of the summer and the first portion of the school year in the ICU fighting for my life. Due to my health, I have never been able to attend school in person full time, but I have always believed education was my ticket to normalcy. Despite my challenges, my family always stressed finding my own normal and focusing on service to others was important. My love of reading and the library have also provided me with a focus. There was not a hospitalization or trip to see medical specialists that passed by without a huge Rubbermaid box of books by my side. Literature and the escape from reality that it provided to me helped me cope through a youth filled with medical trauma. Literature and the education it provided has given me a passion for my future career. All of these have helped shape who I am today. I plan to enter the field of library science with a focus on the inclusion and accommodation of people with disabilities in library spaces. I started reading at a very early age and the library was always a safe and happy place for me. As a volunteer at my public library I have had the opportunity to work with staff and provide input into areas of unintentional exclusion of people with disabilities. As we worked together I discovered that very little research has been done nation-wide into this area of library science, and it is my desire to become an expert in this space and assist in creating more equitable library environments. In order to achieve this goal, I plan to major in English with a focus on professional writing, which will aid me in my future as a librarian and an activist. More specifically, training in professional writing will prepare me to be versed in writing public policy and grants as well as academic research that is greatly needed in order to expand access issues within libraries that most are not aware exist. I know first hand how the love of writing and literature can bring normalcy to a child living in the margins of life, and as an activist for the disabled and disadvantaged, I hope to bring wonder, hope, education, joy, and most of all access to others growing up in difficult situations.

Lennie, my service dog, has impacted my life in a thousand tiny ways since I received him in May of 2014. He has stayed by my side through dozens of hospital visits and hundreds of doctor appointments. He has been a constant companion and support during my struggles with physical and mental health challenges. From the moment I was handed his leash for the first time we have had a bond. When I woke up from a weeks-long coma in the ICU, the first thing I asked for was Lennie. I am told that my first words after waking up were, "my fur ball!" His presence has been a rock to support me over my years of struggling with chronic health issues. He has walked with me to the door of the operating room before countless surgeries. He has been on the hospital bed alongside me as teams of doctors surrounded me. He has helped, using his body weight, my muscles to ache a bit less during long nights of pain. When I am in my wheelchair, I am dependent on him to open doors, pick fallen items up from the ground, and to act as a bridge to conversations. He makes going into the outside world feel more normal. All he ever asks for in return is his dinner. Not only has Lennie worked hard to help me with my physical needs, he has been my best friend for the past 8 years. Lennie is always there without judgment and with an endless amount of love. He is my constant companion on my best and worst days, and I can't begin to imagine growing up without him. His presence eased the difficulties I faced as an immunocompromised person during the first 2 years of the pandemic. Because I had to strictly isolate from my friends and many family members, Lennie's friendship was my constant light and joy each and every day. From his smiling lab face to his strutting horse-like trot when he is happily working alongside of me, he brings me an endless amount of happiness. Lennie will be retiring within the next year and will not attend college with me. He will be 11 years old when I graduate high school. I will receive a successor dog after my graduation, and Lennie will transition into retirement as a pet for my family. Lennie has been the key to my ability to move to an independent life at college.

From a young age my life has involved rare diseases, traveling to doctors appointments, and living in hospitals. This all came to a head in 2016, when I spent part of the summer and the first portion of the school year in the ICU fighting for my life. Due to my health, I have never been able to attend school in person full time, but I have always believed education was my ticket to normalcy. Despite my challenges, my family always stressed finding my own normal and focusing on service to others was important. My love of reading and the library have also provided me with a focus. All of these have helped shape my mindset towards the importance of education. Education is my path to normal, and it is the gift I want to give others through my future work as a librarian with expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have worked hard throughout high school to stabilize my health and build a supportive medical and care team so I can face the challenge of living away at college and all of the experiences life at UAB has to offer. I plan to major in English with a focus on professional writing, minor in Human Rights, and focus on Global and Community Leadership within the University of Alabama at Birmingham Honors College, which will aid me in my future as a librarian and an activist. The Global Community and Leadership program is a program in the UAB Honors College dedicated to helping and encouraging gifted students in enacting a positive change in the world. More specifically, training in professional writing will prepare me to be versed in writing public policy and grants as well as academic research that is greatly needed in order to expand access issues within libraries that most are not aware exist. My studies within the Human Rights division will provide me more insight into what is missing within this space for all marginalized groups and teach me how to organize research to lead to the data needed in making change. I believe my participation in the Honors College will provide me with a like minded community and help me to build a strong foundation in learning about academic research. Learning has always been my way to feel more normal. I hope to always continue that process and maintain the passion I have always had for knowledge.

I plan to enter the field of library science with a focus on the inclusion and accommodation of people with disabilities in library spaces. Over three million children live with a disability, and disabled children are far too often left out of the equation when planning gifted education. I started reading at a very early age and the library was always a safe and happy place for me. As a volunteer at my public library I have had the opportunity to work with staff and provide input into areas of unintentional exclusion of people with disabilities. As we worked together I discovered that very little research has been done nation-wide into this area of library science, and it is my desire to become an expert in this space and assist in creating more equitable library environments. I am currently working with librarians at my local public library to find and address points of inequality in their current system. For example, there is currently a patio behind the library which is used frequently for events. The patio can be accessed via the library building or an emergency exit. You can enter the patio via a set of stairs or a ramp that is neither compliant with the ADA or safe to use. The emergency exit, the only way of leaving without passing through the library, is two stories of stairs. This is one of several inequalities I am discussing with local librarians along with ways of minimizing the exclusion they cause. Without advertising resources, people with disabilities have no way of knowing what few services that are provided exist. Does a grocery store hide any sales and promotions they conduct, not even applying them to customers who would qualify? Services for people with disabilities are advertised less than a sale on cereal at your local supermarket. My local library, where I have volunteered for several years, doesn’t even have a page on their website listing services they provide. Each individual event, of which there were over 100 in April 2022 alone, has its own page, including a time, registration page, and contact information for the librarian organizing the event. Some services for people with disabilities are provided: the children’s section has a growing collection of braille books. The librarians sometimes send pictures to or video call people who cannot go to the library. Yet these services’ presence on their website or any of the dozen other ways the library reaches out to the community is conspicuous only by its absence. I plan to major in English with a focus on professional writing, minor in Human Rights, and focus on Global and Community Leadership within the Honors College, which will aid me in my future as a librarian and an activist. More specifically, training in professional writing will prepare me to be versed in writing public policy and grants as well as academic research that is greatly needed in order to expand access issues within libraries that most are not aware exist. My studies within the Human Rights division will provide me more insight into what is missing within this space for all marginalized groups and teach me how to organize research to lead to the data needed in making change. I believe my participation in the Honors College will provide me with a like minded community and help me to build a strong foundation in learning about academic research. When access for the most marginalized groups in our communities is address, access for all is expanded. When gifted students from these groups have better access to library spaces, their possibilities for the future are only improved. It is only through identifying and acknowledging injustices that they can be corrected. As Malcolm X said, “If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out that's not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven't even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound. They won't even admit the knife is there.”