Post by Pony on Dec 6, 2006 16:23:33 GMT -5
Schooled In Life
Everyone of us has a story of triumph! School happens to be one of mine.
Before my accident, I hated school. I even dropped out of high school, but I started going to junior college after a girlfriend I met talked me into it. She was an incredible girl that came into my life at the perfect time, and it was my first serious relationship after my accident the left me c5c6 SCI.
A very personal article was done in the local newspaper that focused on my life after drunk driving accident, and Denise contacted the newspaper, wanting to meet me. It was a strange way of hooking up, but she was cool girl, and damn pretty, although very young. She was 17, I was 24. Understandably, her parents didn't love the idea for a few reasons - age + disability!!! However, we clicked, and we were inseparable for a year. I was her first REAL sexual relationship, as she had been raped by some dude at a party while drunk. It didn't start out sexual, but evenually it got pretty crazy.
I wasn't able to drive at the time, and didn't have a lift on my van. In those days, I had a plywood ramp that my mother used to get me in and out after she worked all night in nursing homes as a CNA. and Denise drove my ass around, too.
As i said, going to school was her idea, and after we broke up, I registered at the local community college. I remember my first classes I wrote with a pen in my mouth because I hadn't learned the tricks of writing by hand again. I went to Jr college for seven years before I finally graduated. By then, I had got a loan to fix my van to drive. I moved to a HUD apartment that I couldn't take a shower in, but it saved me money. Needless to say, I hated that, but sacrificed in order to get financially able to pay the driving loan!!
As I went along, I gained confidence, and felt the doors opening more and more in my life. After I graduated Jr college with an A.A. degree, I immediately enrolled in University of South Florida, where I eventually graduated with a B.A. in Mass Communications. The Universiy was an hour away, and I remember it being like this huge challenge for me to drive that far everyday. Not all of going to college was so enjoyable, but the closer I got to completion, the more doors opened in life - including my own mind.
I didn't have a lot of friends, and I was older than most college kids, but I wrote a music column for the college newspaper, and that was the start of my interest in writing. I also interned as a Capitol Records regional rep to scout talent, which led to Derek Trucks' first recording demo deal when he was just a kid. He has since gone on the become a well-known slide-guitar hero.
In 1991, I graduated USF on stage at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Fl in cap n gown with long hair down my back. I felt like Lance Armstrong winning the grueling Tour de France.
Battles build character, and open doors. More importantly, these uphill battles gave my life purpose at a time when I really needed to prove something to myself. It became my foundation to rebuilding my life!
