My college major, and my whole world view. by Sarah

My college major, and my whole world view. by Sarah - April 2025 Scholarship Essay

I have both physical and learning disabilities, so I know that community and advocacy are important. This has shaped both my college major, and my whole world view.

I have learning challenges that make it hard for me to read and get what I’m thinking in my head out onto a page. For instance, when I was young, one of my eyes literally did not see. There was nothing wrong with my eye, but my brain had decided that to correct a problem it was having with moving my eyes together to read that it had to turn off one of my eyes to make sense of the world. I went to an eye doctor, and he said he could help. “But,” he said, “you will have to work hard.” And I did!

Every day I took the ancient looking contraptions he gave me and pushed myself to keep focused. Each week he gave me more exercises to do, and I went home and dedicated myself to doing them. Suddenly, my eye switched back on, and reading and writing became much easier! I realized that focused work could help, and I decided that working with people to help them overcome challenges was going to be my focus.

I’ve had other experiences with working hard in the body to support and help challenges, like Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, which has inspired me to learn more about these fields and explore the helping professions. I also keep a rigorous athletic schedule, playing a Varsity sport every season to support my own need for sensory input, keep fit, and proudly represent my school in several leagues. I have overcome struggles, so the next step is to take those struggles, and how they informed me, and turn them into a path for bridging differences with others. Since I was young, I have been an advocate for others. My parents have a video of me advocating for the safety of my cat as a toddler who could barely speak, and my elementary classmates always chose me to be the one who told the teacher what we were having a conflict about. I have always been the one who brought different people, with different priorities, together.

I have been diagnosed with multiple overlapping learning disabilities (Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysexecutive Syndrome), as well as an Anxiety Disorder, and I also have some physical challenges (Hypermobility Syndrome, Anemia, and likely Ehlers Danlos Syndrome – waiting for genetic testing results to confirm) that come with pain, fatigue, and frequent injuries. This is who I am, so I need to work longer and harder than others, but it doesn’t hold me back from having a great life and doing great things!

Having multiple learning disabilities lit a spark in me to work for the rights of persons with learning differences, and other differences of relating and communicating. I’m interested in bringing an understanding of the importance of sensory integration and movement to my school and the surrounding community. I launched an independent research project when I was a high school Junior, observing the same 2nd grade class weekly to see how movement affects classroom learning; it went so well that I continued it into my Senior year! I’m hopeful that what I am able to demonstrate with my research paper will influence the entire school’s use of movement to positively impact classroom learning. I’ve also volunteered at conferences and community events around the United States, and have worked on the development of a not-for-profit organization to bring services to underserved adults with challenges of relating and communicating.

I plan to continue this path in college, taking the empathy I developed though my own challenges, and my innate understanding of how to communicate and advocate for others, to build a career as an Occupational Therapist. I have an idea for a college project to develop a free movement-based enrichment program in the elementary after-school program local to my University, to teach young children (and their grown-ups!) the benefits of movement upon academic success, in a fun and engaging way. This will deepen my learning through hands-on work, while helping others.

I don’t know if I would have thought of all this had I not stood with my dad on the curb outside our house on that hot October morning, testing the wind, but I am happy I did.