What Graduating From College With Cerebral Palsy Taught Me

I’ve learned life is about understanding you aren’t alone. Whether sharing your story to support others or looking around for support, you have someone that understands your path, or you are someone else’s someone.

For the longest time, I was made to feel it was me against the world. No one was meant to understand me or give me the true time of day because I was different. No one would hire me. I took longer to graduate. I didn’t have my license. I wasn’t living on my own. All things adults “should be doing.” All things that felt incredibly lonely until I realized my peers were going through very similar situations. We were all secretly in this together, but what made it the most magical was understanding no matter how hard it got, we still kept going for ourselves and those around us.

It doesn’t matter how long something takes or how it is done. What matters is seeing and understanding that you have a tribe of people that will carry you through life with all its wonderful lessons. Congratulations to the Class of 2019, no matter what you went through to earn your degree or how long it took. Also 2019, thank you for changing my life and getting me ready for the rest of the adventures ahead.