Moving South
...r Southern response, I later discovered, was "Yes Ma'am," not the "Yea, here" I had uttered. This set the trend. I am a student with learning disabilities. In Michigan this had never presented a serious problem. During middle school I was enrolled in a learning-support program that taught me how to compensate for my learning differences. The only accommodations I needed were exemption from foreign-language requirements, forgiveness of spelling errors, and extended time on tests, which I used on math tests and in-class writing assignments. Statistically about ten percent of the population has one learning disability or another. My high school, however, insisted that it had no students with learning disabilities. In fact, when I first mentioned my learning disability to a 9th grade classmate, he remarked, "Well, ya look okay to me." Thus I began my days as a high school student with learning disabilities in a place where learning disabilities don't exist. My family's move forced me to quickly develop self-advocacy skills. Initially an exemption from required foreign-language classes was the only concession the school made for me. My thick folder of education-testing results detailed my inability to succeed in a language class. My four years of high school in one of the South's smartest cities (Huntsville has the most Ph.D.s per capita in the nation) have been punctuated by negotiations with math and English teachers over extra time on tests. Making my high school experience work for me academically was an uphill battle. Luckily I had supportive friends and teachers who helped me survive. During my childhood I knew my interest lay in the design and construction of complex structures. Whether I was creating a seven-foot-square spaceport out of legos or a jungle fortress out of Mom's dining-room chairs, I enjoyed planning how a place should be laid out, occupied, and defended. My vast collections of building toys offered me a refuge from early academic frustrations and still offer a source of amusement to me at age 28. Not considering myself an exceptionally artistic person, I tend to think more technically and analytically. Friends and family have often predicted I would become a computer geek; however, heavy math and I have never gotten along well…something to do with the big learning disability persona. I found my way to networking after experimenting with a number of different summer programs in science, engineering and information technology. This convergence of talents into one field was a watershed experience for me. I realized this when I found myself...