Og Mandino once said, “Failure will never overtake me, if my determination
to succeed is strong enough”. At a critical time in my life, I was inspired to
go back to school. I was inspired by my father’s caseworker, who also had
disabilities. To me, she represented hard work and determination. I met her when
I went to visit my father in the hospital. She sat down and talked with me and
my father and helped us work through some of our issues. She inspired me because
despite her disabilities she seemed like she was a hard worker and cared about
the people that she took care of.
First, the caseworker and I discussed the situation with my Dad and for the
first time I was able to be open with him. The situation that we talked about
was not good, but the outcome of talking about the situation created a better
atmosphere. After this, she shared some experiences she had known about, prior
to this meeting in regards to my father. These experiences were not good ones,
but helped me to learn more about my father. This caseworker helped to go above
and beyond just through communication and taught me the importance of this. My
father had acted the same way toward her as he had with me, knowing that she was
in a wheelchair. I found though, that her disability did not hinder her progress
and this inspired me. This event changed me because it made me realize that if I
put my mind to anything I can become anything that I want to with a lot of hard
work and determination.
I was even inspired by her work. I had had previous experience working with
mental health. I had a social worker in high school. She had also inspired me
when she was working for me, the way she took care of my needs helped me to feel
at peace with things. After this I began thinking about a career in the mental
health field. This experience reassured me that this is what I wanted to do with
my life. If someone with some of the same disabilities as me could do this
profession then I knew that I could too.
This event was important to me because it involved my father and I really
looked up to my father, but also because this experience taught me to never give
up on my dreams. If you have a dream, you should go for it, no matter what your
circumstance is. I chose this specific experience because this is what inspired
me to go forward with the journey I am on.
Another thing that inspired me to go back to school was my mother. My
mother decided to go back to school at fifty years old. One of the main reasons
she went back to school was to show her children that you are never too old to
go back. The first child to pick up on this lesson was of course me. The second
was my sister. My sister has gotten her RN and has even encouraged me to
continue on with my journey to school. I look up to my big sister as well and
she has really inspired me to continue on. When I lived with her that was one of
the things she often said. “To live with me you need to either have a job or be
continuing your education.”
I have been going to Friends and Action Clubhouse for a couple years now
and along the way I knew that I wanted to do this kind of work, but being at
clubhouse and seeing all the staff there and how much they take pride in their
job and how much they care for the members really inspires me even further. I
know, like I said in the beginning, it will be a lot of hard work, but in the
long run it will pay off. I know by doing stuff in the work order day and
helping lead clubhouse meetings it will better help me with what I am facing in
my journey and in my future.
On my own journey back to school, I have learned that it is tough. It is a
lot of hard work, but I know in the long run it will pay off. Failure can never
overtake me, if my determination is strong enough.
--
davidcarruba
