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Jamie – How did you handle going back to school?

Jamie – How did you handle going back to school?

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Well, my school was at the time 35-years-old, and so they did—going back, there wasn’t a lot of accessibility. Like, I had to get my own key to an elevator to go up to classes. And I’ll never forget like they wanted to move my stuff downstairs ... Show More

Well, my school was at the time 35-years-old, and so they did—going back, there wasn’t a lot of accessibility. Like, I had to get my own key to an elevator to go up to classes. And I’ll never forget like they wanted to move my stuff downstairs and I was like, “I want to be normal, I don’t want my teacher to have to relocate just because I’m in a wheelchair. Why can’t I go on the elevator?” And they were just so protective of stuff like that. And the ramps, there were ramps, but there were lots of steps, so I would have to navigate a different way around the school. It was difficult at times because things weren’t accessible. But they learned quickly to make things accessible and they did a good job. I missed two-and-a-half-months, and when I went back to school my teachers were amazing, a lot of grace, a lot of grace and I appreciated that. I did graduate from high school on time and it was a great graduation. It was different, you know, rolling across the stage, but it was really a fantastic moment.

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Jamie – How did you handle going back to school?

Jamie

Injured in 1993 at age 17, paraplegic
More Videos by Jamie
Transcriptadd

Well, my school was at the time 35-years-old, and so they did—going back, there wasn’t a lot of accessibility. Like, I had to get my own key to an elevator to go up to classes. And I’ll never forget like they wanted to move my stuff downstairs and I was like, “I want to be normal, I don’t want my teacher to have to relocate just because I’m in a wheelchair. Why can’t I go on the elevator?” And they were just so protective of stuff like that. And the ramps, there were ramps, but there were lots of steps, so I would have to navigate a different way around the school. It was difficult at times because things weren’t accessible. But they learned quickly to make things accessible and they did a good job. I missed two-and-a-half-months, and when I went back to school my teachers were amazing, a lot of grace, a lot of grace and I appreciated that. I did graduate from high school on time and it was a great graduation. It was different, you know, rolling across the stage, but it was really a fantastic moment.

Jamie – How did you handle going back to school?
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