By Danielle Shealy

So, imagine a life where your feet hardly ever touch the floor.

Imagine a life where all others have to do is pull a switch to walk. That’s something that a lot of people don’t go through, but I do. This is the life that I have to deal with every day. Now, I know people may see me zooming around the hallway, but can students and staff identify what my face looks like?  Do I wear glasses?  What color is my hair?  What does my laugh sound like?  Many people don’t realize that I am more than just struggles. One may think that my life is just having other people do things for me, but it is much more. I am able to advocate for those people like me who can’t speak up for themselves.

My biggest point of writing this is for others to watch how they judge me by just my appearance alone. People need to be aware that it’s fine to talk to me even though I am different from them.  Please just embrace me as an individual like everyone else. Sometimes people try to do too much for me and it upsets me because I know I can do more than they are letting me do.

Something to know about me is that I enjoy writing.  I stay home a lot on the weekends and make up super amazing stories.  I enjoy getting sucked into reality television.  I don’t like scary movies but I love comedies and “little kid” movies.  I am very sarcastic and I like to joke around all of the time.

So, as one can tell, just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the same things as other teenagers do.  I enjoy the good life.

What I have told you about is something that affects me every day.  It is my life, and I wanted to share it with others.