Where I live:
Shreveport, LA
LSUS Degree(s): BGS, 1978 (Bachelor of General Studies)
How I got to LSUS: I came to LSUS after rehab from a spinal cord injury. I needed to use my mind instead of my body to look for a career.
Fond Memories of LSUS: The professors, the Snack Shack, getting stuck in the elevator in the old
Library
Building and watching the campus grow.
LSUS faculty who helped me: Dr. Vincent Marsala, Dr. Dalton Cloud, Dr. George Kemp and so many more.
How LSUS helped me succeed: It gave me a great foundation for working through problems and the drive to keep looking for more answers to issues and questions that I came across.
What I do now: LaCAN Leader Region 7
About my job: A Regional Leader of a grassroots network of individuals and families who have worked together since 1988 advocating for a system that supports individuals wishing to live in their own homes rather than having to move to a facility to receive needed services. Also provides information and support to individuals wishing to effectively advocate for the expansion and improvement of community and family support services for people with disabilities and their families through email updates, regional workshops and personal contact.
Advice to college-bound students: Try to find a field of work that you enjoy and talk to people in that field, then work toward your goal.
Advice to someone who wants to enter my field: Have a passion for helping families with special needs children and individuals with disabilities who do not have access to the resources or information you have. Tips on choosing a major or career: Choose a career you will enjoy doing; that way, it will not really feel like a "job" when you go to work. The work will then enrich your life every day.
My toughest professional challenge: Trying to convince key committee chairpersons in the Louisiana Legislature and our Governor to change their mindset about disability living and convince them that letting persons with a disability live at home or in a group home with home and community support services is better in most cases than keeping those individuals in State institutions or nursing homes.
My toughest personal challenge: Keeping up the fight for others when I face so many issues with being a total care C5 quadriplegic and being so dependent on others for my personal care for daily life activities.
Successes (honors, awards, etc.) in my life: First Quadriplegic to graduate from LSUS
First Quadriplegic to ride in a handicap accessible hot air balloon in
Louisiana , Serena's Song.
First quadriplegic to graduate from the
Shreveport
Citizens
Police
Academy
Volunteers of America
Northwest Louisiana , Champion for Dignity Award, 2006
The Ken Vince Memorial Award, presented by the Governor's Office of Disability Affairs. I received the Governor's Outstanding Leadership in Disabilities (GOLD) Award at the Old State Capitol December 10, 2008. The GOLD Awards annually honor individuals in the disability community statewide for outstanding achievements.
I've learned this from life: You can only take it one day at a time and try always to do your best.
|
