My Journey thus Far Part 4
Posted by Second Chance to Live on June 18, 2010
Please read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7 for context. Thank you.
As I shared in Part 2 of this series it took me 10 years and 4 different majors to obtain my undergraduate degree and 5 years and 2 different graduate schools to obtain my masters degree. Little did I know that the reasons why I had difficulties in my 4 different majors and 2 different graduate programs were due to my learning disabilities that stemmed back to the traumatic brain injury that I sustained when I was 10 years old.
As I shared in Part 3 of this series, I experienced a long history of 20 years of getting and losing jobs. These jobs included both non-professional and professional jobs. Too many times I had the experience of being called into the office at these jobs and told that my services were no longer needed. These firings, layoffs or terminations left me baffled as I was a hard worker at each of those jobs.
What I shared in Part 2 and Part 3 of this series, left me feeling confused, frustrated, disappointed and dejected. Nevertheless, for many years I spent countless hours attempting to figure out why I found myself unemployed, yet once again. Because I had difficulties in both my undergraduate, my graduate programs and my work history I bought into the notion that who I was, was of little value. Because of denial and my apparent failures, I experienced minimization and marginalization.
As I shared in Part 3 I experienced a tremendous amount of ongoing financial insecurity due to getting and losing jobs on a seeming revolving basis. Because of the financial insecurity and my inability to maintain employment, I applied for SSDI and after my 3rd application, I was approved to begin receiving SSDI. While I was waiting to obtain the decision of my 3rd application I went through and was deemed to be unemployable by the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Although I was deemed to be unemployable by the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and no one seemed to want what I had to give, I still had a desire to be of service. With time and as I began to accept my reality, I began to realize that my varied life experiences — my educational endeavors, my vocational pursuits, my recovery process and my experience of living with adversity — all gave me a strong foundation upon which I could build to be of service.
I began building on this foundation through my first book — Table Topics for the Soul — Journey to the Heart – which is registered with the Library of Congress Copyright © 2006. I then wrote an autobiography to chronicle my experiences and what I learned through living with a traumatic brain injury and invisible disability from the age of 10. Although neither of these works were published, I now see these works as part of the foundation that I needed to lay to build upon to create a new structure.
“In all labor there is profit.” Proverbs 14:23 a
Please read Part 5 for context. Thank you.
Here is my Contact Page. Send comments or questions and I will respond to you.
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