My Illness and disability doesn’t define my Ability 💥I DO!!!💥
The biggest thing I have learned and have come to accept over the past few months is that neither my illnesses nor my disabilities define my ability.
Late last year a routine visit for new glasses sent me to the optometrist to have my glaucoma checked. The results were more vision loss and prognosis of blindness in 5 years without surgery. After a year of other medical issues, and just starting school. This was another blow I had a hard time dealing with.
While waiting for my surgery to come up in late December, I sat and contemplated my future and what I was going to do. I was also on somewhat of a pitty pot. Illness, injury, or life-changing medical events such as cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, etc, is hard on anybody. It is especially hard on someone like me who also deals with bipolar disorder, where depression is ingrained in your DNA.
Along with starting a Bootcamp, working a full-time job, and going blind, and getting accepted into Udacity for a second time.
It was a hard decision to go ahead with the challenge.
I felt I had so much on my plate already, but my study buddy Juwana from the Udacity FEND program talked me into it. Secretly, I think she didn’t want to do it alone. 😄Some of my hesitation in doing my first Udacity course was the disconnect or lack of human connection and contact. But this was far from that.
The leadership at Udacity did and still does an awesome job at building the Udacity community. From the challenges, to study jams, meetups, AMA sessions, webinars, and the slack group is great also. I actually think I got addicted to Slack. When the first thing you do in the morning is check Slack for the latest post, even before the coffee is brewed or the crust is out of your eye 😴, you have an addiction, and in this case a good one.
So while deciding to do my second Udacity challenge, the community was a huge factor in my decision. While figuring out how to balance BootCamp, a full-time job, Udacity, holidays, and my upcoming surgery.
I started connecting with old friends from the FEND program, making new friends at both my Bootcamp and the new Udacity challenge.
I started thinking about my cohort and started gaining inspiration from them due to my current circumstances. When I first posted about my situation, I got so many messages about how I am doing, so many well wishes, prayers, and messages about how much of an inspiration I am. To be honest my willingness to go on this journey came from my connections made with Udacity.
In the FEND group, we had cohorts, n my group our team leads were Danny and Rachel.
Danny has been fighting diabetes, which has now gotten better, he is currently still dealing with emphysema and heart disease. Up until recently he was teaching code online for a local college and doing Udacity.
R battled severe health issues, coupled with a mound of medical bills and the cost of prescription medication. Despite also having a learning disability and ADHD. She was able to finish another nanodegree program in Data Analytics and is currently working as a Data Analyst.
Another member of my cohort is in a relationship with someone that suffers from severe debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.
While helping her friend she also works a full-time government job, and is in grad school, while continuing to teach herself how to code.
Julian, worked with disabling back issues and faced spinal surgery.
He is an awesome stay at home dad and is also continuing his studies in web development.
I recently found out that my study buddy, Juwana was born with a physical birth defect. Juwana is a mentor for Udacity.
Somehow these amazing people managed to organize meetups, do webinars, and graduate Udacity. Even after our journey with Udacity, we still got together online and studied.
But I have to say my biggest inspiration, and helping me through this process is Michael Arthur Jackson. This young man born prematurely with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy is taking life by storm. He not only was doing the Nanodegree program but also going for his master’s degree at The College of St.Scholastica.
He was very active in the Udacity FEND group. Wrote many articles, even did a commercial for Apple Watch. All while having a few brushes with death also.
Today he has not only his Nanodegree but a master’s degree from The College of St.Scholastica, he is very active in politics, and has a smile bigger than life.
These are just some of the people that made me realize that my illness and disability doesn’t define my ability. Is it harder for us with illnesses, and disabilities? YES.
But it is still achievable. Our illness and disabilities are a part of our lives, but it is not our life.
Our life is the people we inspire and who inspire us, as long as we embrace the inspiration.
Like many people, I just have had to learn new ways of coping and adapting to things.
Udacity has always iterated during my FEND program don’t be afraid to ask for help.
It is not a sign of weakness, you are not giving up independence, and you are not stupid. You may also find someone else that is going through similar if not the same struggle you are.
Never forget: Your disability or illness does not define your ability