Life Update

It's been a while since my last post.  Being in college takes up the majority of my time these days.  However, I realized that I cannot take long breaks without writing a post here.  This blog has really been therapeutic for me, and last week, it really hit me that I needed to bring these posts back to deal with my stress.

I am currently in my Junior year at Penn State.  Things have been going well.  This summer, I participated in three track meets, including Junior Nationals.  At Nationals this last year, I got first in one event and second in the other two!  My former coach has since retired and the search for a new one was daunting, to say the least.  But after a few months of hearing nothing, we finally gained a new coach!  So far, he's great!  Right now we are focusing on building the team and dealing with logistics as we have four new members interested in joining.  Meets will start after the new year.

Some of you already know this, but I have also decided to continue an internship that I had last year until I graduate.  In case you are reading this and do not know or remember what my internship is, I will explain it a bit further.  I work for the Centre County Democratic Committee, which is a branch of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party near my school.  I am in charge of getting volunteers, sending volunteers out for canvassing, and going out for canvassing, calling voters, etc., myself.  Along with this internship comes a lot of networking opportunities.  I have met many local and statewide candidates and officials.  Earlier this year, I was invited to a dinner that allowed me to meet even more people.  This year, while 2019 was not a big election year, there was a local election.  Almost all of the candidates that I worked closest with, won their seats!  To say I was emotional is an understatement.  Also, I recently found out that one of my favorite candidates from 2018 is running for mayor in this area, and I am so excited to work with him again!

Me with April Holmes after meeting her

In September, I turned 21!  I had originally not planned anything for my birthday, as it was on a Monday, however, I was asked to take part in a really awesome opportunity.  I got the chance to meet a Paralympian- April Holmes!  To provide a little context, allow me to explain a little bit more about who she is.  April Holmes is a Paralympian who competes with other below-the-knee amputees, like herself.  She has competed in 2004, 2008, and 2012 Paralympics, obtaining bronze, gold, and bronze medals, respectively.  Currently, she tours the United States, giving talks at high schools and universities.  I was definitely fangirling for the entire time.  We got to sit down together to discuss various things.  She talked about how and why she got involved in sports.  She gave me advice on how to manage work and my sport and offered herself as a person for me to reach out to if I ever needed anything.  Meeting her was definitely the highlight of my birthday and I am so happy that I was given that opportunity.

The next update should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me:  I am involved with an advocacy project.  While at an event for my internship, I was approached by two members of the Centre County ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).  They asked if I would be interested in partnering with them to improve accessibility on Penn State's main campus.  I, of course, said yes.  So what exactly is this project?  Right now, my role is to go around campus in my daily life, observing accessibility issues (of which there are MANY).  I have also been talking to other students with disabilities, as everyone's experience with accessibility and disability is different and unique.  I then record what I and other students have found.  Once we gather enough information, we can then advocate for change on campus with the ACLU.

In addition to this partnership with ACLU, I have co-founded a club on campus.  This group aims to become a resource for students with disabilities and to promote advocacy on campus.  Also, we welcome non-disabled students to come and learn more about disability rights and the disability community.  As of right now, we have about ten members, but are hoping to branch out and partner with other groups to grow next semester.  I am hoping to involve club members in my work with the ACLU as well. That being said, this group was not my idea.  It was brought to my attention by a woman in one of my clubs on campus.  She and I have been working closely together to create the club.

I have a lot of posts coming!  You can expect to see an update to my 2020 Election Guide, which you can check out at the link, if you haven't read it, to catch up before the update comes out.  Also, I will be discussing insensitivity in the next post.  Some of you reading this may know the exact situation that prompted this one, which I will be delving into within that post.  I may also do a post explaining the group that I talked about above, as well as my ACLU project in the future, however, schoolwork takes a lot of time out of my schedule, so these may not come for some time.

Thanks for reading!