A Space Explorer & His Robot
“My disorder is very life shortening. I want to get as much out of life as I can while I can. Here, I just can’t. Come home from school; just sit… It’s not living.”
— Alex Wilkinson
This is the reality that Alex Wilkinson, a 19-year-old Aerospace Engineering major from West Decatur, Pennsylvania, faces as a student at West Virginia University. Due to a neurological disorder, Alex has been using a wheelchair for about 8 years. Despite this, he’s not different from other students — he wants to fit in and be able to participate in events. However, Alex says he feels like he was never included from the very beginning and is isolated because of the lack of full accessibility for school facilities and transportation for those with disabilities. The PRT, which is not wheelchair accessible, is one example.
What attracted you to WVU in the first place?
Alex: I was here for ‘Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer’, but I don’t even feel like a Mountaineer now. It’s not a good place, not good memories here. Once I leave, once I go to UCLA, I’ll be a Bruin, not a Mountaineer. If nothing for the fact that here, it seems like they don’t want me here, so I don’t want to be here.
Do you like your living space?
Alex: It’s nice. It’s new, right? I’m pretty sure I’m the first or second resident who had this room. It’s expensive; a little pricier than I would have liked at $850 per month. I don’t think it’s as nice as the price is, especially considering Pierpoint right across the street is almost half [the price], so I would have rather taken anywhere else but University Place.
Engineering is pretty stressful, what’s been your experience with it so far?
Alex: I study a lot, like 15 hours or so outside of classes of just studying. Not doing homework and stuff, just studying. Like, 20 hours encompassing [homework]. Working out is one of the things that keeps me going, helps me de-stress. But actually, during the newest fitness upgrades that they did to the Recreation Center, they got rid of the wheelchair machine, that was ironically back by the leg equipment.
[Editors note: Alex, saying “wheelchair machine”, is referring to an exercise machine that can be used by those with a disability.]
You’re a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) Board to help solve issues of accessibility on campus. How does it feel representing others with disabilities?
Alex: I’m tired of being annoyed. It’s tough trying to fight. So, being that voice is pretty important. I’ll do as much as I can for however much longer I’m here. But after that, I’m done.
— Natalie Lorenze, senior
West Virginia University
Fall 2016
Contact: Natalie Lorenze on Medium or @NatalieLorenze on Twitter.
