By: Anomie Fatale
As of July 1, 2024 I have finished all of my pre-requisite classes for nursing school at the Community College of Philadelphia. My experience at CCP has given so much back to me. When I first started this journey I wasn’t sure whether or not I would be able to excel in a college classroom setting, especially in science courses. Before I became disabled, I was a straight-A college student in the science field. I didn’t believe that after having multiple brain surgeries I would be able to still do that because of many barriers and negative labels put on me. Allowing myself to create my own labels, not only was I able to achieve a perfect grade point average, but I got to give back and help other students in studying.
I’m very proud of my disability identity, but it feels so incredible when my abilities are recognized and also used to define me. Many times when people see that I use a power wheelchair they project helplessness onto me. It takes time for them to realize that I can do a lot independently, especially because of my chair. Usually, I find that it takes proof for people to realize they can actually ask me for help. I don’t explain my abilities, I just show people what I can do.
By observing me they learn they can ask me to help with grabbing things, throwing things out, and focusing microscopes: all things I can do and do better because I’m not a fall risk in my Quantum power wheelchair.
I really want to thank CCP for being the most accepting and accommodating educational environment I’ve ever had. The atmosphere is really genuine without the toxic pretentiousness I’ve felt in other colleges after becoming disabled. It felt very welcoming that in every class I had there was at least one other disabled student. For people who think community college classes are easy, they’re not. No one gets special treatment, other than that the classes are affordable. I highly recommend community college as a bridge to anyone who wants a college education but is struggling financially, especially those who are low-income on SSI and SSDI.