Growing up and living with cerebral palsy and identifying with the LGBTQ+ community has made it incredibly difficult to find my footing in an able-bodied society. However, academia is one place where I shine bright alongside my peers. Throughout K-12, I was in a mixture of general and special education classes. Hence, I know firsthand how vital those relationships with teachers or other school staff are for these students in special education and their families and the crucial nature of accommodations such as extra time on tests and consistent access to handicap accessible bathrooms can have from bringing an E to a C or the bolstering of friendships in the general education setting. Nevertheless, I know what it is like for these students and their families’ gifts, insights, and concerns at various parties in advocating for a student to flourish in the classroom academically or socially. However, for students and their families of marginalized or oppressed whose educational rights may have been pushed to the wayside due to the systemic nature of the education system I aim to be the person who will take the time to empathetically listen to these students and families to fight for their bright futures to unlock their academic gifts by framing thoughts expressed by these individuals in a way that my future colleagues will understand. Currently, I am in my MSW program, specializing in school social work, intending to help students and their families in my local elementary or middle school community help them through life challenges and educational achievements by taking the time to learn what makes these students and their loved ones awesome by identifying positive qualities that may assist them on this journey. I intend to use a social-emotional learning curriculum to help these young students learn techniques that can help them make new friends in the classroom and become independent in adulthood. The educational lens is not my main drive in wanting to help those with disabilities. When I came out at 18, I began to use dating apps as a way to connect with the LGBTQ+ community and hopefully make new friends, which I lacked in childhood due to my complex needs. I soon realized that guys did not understand the nature of my disability and either thought I was too independent or extremely dependent. Also, I was pressured into physical acts way too quickly, or guys would become frightened by my needs and end up ghosting or blocking me, which tore at my self-esteem. Thus, I made it my life’s mission to teach the LGBTQ+ community about the nature of disability and its intersecting areas. Last year, I interned at the Grand Rapids Pride Center. I made a Disability & Accessibility Education Guide containing various definitions of disabilities and multiple examples of prominent work done by disabled LGBTQ+ activists. My goal with the guide is for community members to reflect on what they learned and grasp these individuals' courage in fighting for the rights we have today. Above all else, I aim to be a role model for young disabled children who may be struggling with similar experiences when I was little by showing them they can live their most authentic life and use their disability journey as a substantial part of their future success.

Coming out and living your authentic life is hard enough to add cerebral palsy; it makes the process twice as hard. My family accepted me for who I was, and I could finally be my most authentic self. Shortly after that, I began to use social networking apps to make friends in the LGBTQ+ community. Now, growing up, I lived a shy and sheltered life filled with many surgeries and many rounds of physical therapy aimed at making walking and other activities easier for me to complete independently. I never hung out with my peers after school or participated in a nightly group chat with my closest friends because there were so many factors I needed to consider along with my timidness, like the accessibility of a building or whether I could get into the person’s car on my own. As a result, when I began to use social networking apps to connect with peers in the LGBTQ community, that was a massive leap for me out of my shell. However, I struggled to connect with others my age because there was a disconnect when it came to understanding how my disability impacted me as a person. Nor did they understand that before I met them in person, I needed a deep sense of trust and intimacy to know they looked at me for the person who I was on the inside and not the physical body on the outside. Often, I would end up blocked by people, or they would force me to do things I was uncomfortable doing. These experiences inspired me to teach the LGBTQ community about the intersectionality of their community and the disability community. I recently interned at the Grand Rapids Pride Center, where I created a disability and accessibility education guide for community members to learn about intersectionality and the role disability plays within the LGBTQ community. The guide includes definitions of disabilities, works of LGBTQ disability justice leaders of color such as Alice Wong and Patty Berne, and language rules to follow when discussing disabilities. My hope with the guide is that community members will educate their friends and family about disability or support those disabled community members whose work goes unrecognized daily. I start graduate school in July to work on my MSW in clinical social work, specializing in school social work. I want to be a child and family therapist or counselor and a support system or advocate for children and families facing adversities by guiding them to the light at the end of the tunnel. Throughout my life, therapy has helped me work through my sexual orientation, my parent’s divorce, and family conflicts. I want to show children like me that with a disability, you can still be your most authentic self and have a successful life.