School (part 4)

A friend in my special needs class and I lip-synched Madonna's "Like a Prayer" in our grade four talent show. We entered ourselves in the talent show but didn't have an act yet. A few days later, I was in my room listening to music when "Like a Prayer" came on. The song spoke to me about what I wanted to achieve. Part of me felt like the voice in the song was pushing me to fly when I felt like I was falling. I choreographed all the moves that night.  It was easier for me to perform them on my knees than in my wheelchair so I could somersault around.  My friend and I had free time the next day and I showed her the moves.  It took a while but she got the hang of them!

We practised for the next couple of days before the talent show.  I also practised at home so I would know the moves by heart and feel confident performing them.  It was easy to remember all the words to the song because I was listening to it a lot.  We wore matching outfits for the talent show: shorts over tights and t-shirts.  I was nervous before we performed because I wasn't sure I could do it. But when I got out there, I forgot about everyone and just had fun with it. The whole school cheered for us and we won! It was fun to feel like a normal girl without a disability.

Not everyone in elementary school was able to see past my wheelchair.  I was picked on a lot. They called me every name in the book, which made me furious.  When I would arrive home and vent to my parents, they gave me the advice that it's not my problem if certain people don't like me because that means they probably aren't worth my friendship anyway.  People calling me names didn't stop me from enthusiastically greeting new students in the class, wanting to learn about them and help them out.

I shone in my teacher's eyes; she thought that I would be a great advocacy role model for people with disabilities.  In 8th grade, we saw an article about a young lady who also had C.P. and lived on her own in Calgary.  I wrote her a letter and asked if we could meet.  She agreed and came to my school to visit me.  She said that I inspired her but she too inspired me.  My teacher always said I was an inspiration to her and others because of my positive attitude and drive to challenge every day as I greeted it.

As the hardest worker in the class, I was able to see irony and humour in stories, sometimes better than my classmates.  I have a good memory for stories and could always answer questions about the story we had just read.  This surprised my classmates who thought I couldn't do much.  I ran the lunch kiosk and counted all the money.  I always had the brightest smile and a good sense of humour.  I was always well behaved and never argued.  I would lead the calendar exercise every morning and was very keen to learn and do new things.  When I was tired, I was willing to negotiate.  I went through all the things everyone else goes through.

In first grade, I stormed across the playground in my electric wheelchair, swinging my favourite Barbie doll by her hair and yelling, all because someone had dared to say that my Barbie's dress wasn't very pretty.  I always had friends inside and outside of resource class; they would cluster around me but we would occasionally fight like any other group of kids.  I was in Brownies and Girl Guides; it was fun to be part of a group and the kids treated me as if I was like anyone else, even though I used my walker.  I loved our camping trips and selling cookies.