Four years has gone by since I have wrote in my blog on my life experiences with my Med El cochlear implant. There have been many incredible life changes in my journey since then, but the three biggest changes of all for me was graduating college with a degree to become a physical therapist assistant, pass my boards to practice as well as go through interviews to finally receive an full-time job offer. I have grown in many ways during all of those changes, especially proving to myself I am capable of achieving anything when I put my mind and heart into my passions. For instance, PTA school was no easy feat for me, challenging me every way possible as a Deaf student, mom, and wife. I had to learn to balance a full-time student schedule with a busy family life, and find the time to take care of myself, which I did not do much of. The support I had from my family over those three years was incredible, my dream would not of been possible without my family. I loved school, as hard as it was, my professors were amazing always making sure I was hearing what was lectured as well as supporting my CART services I used throughout my time in college. My lectures and labs were real time captioning, a service I am extremely grateful for. I also developed close friendships in PTA school that have continued out of school, and without those amazing ladies I do not know how I would of survived all those semesters. We worked together through many study groups and supported each other when times were difficult. I will never forget the day I walked across stage to receive my diploma, and I told myself, "You did it girl, a dream you believed in happened.", yes I cried, many happy tears.
I still had two other challenges left, pass my boards, and find a job to practice as a physical therapist assistant. After many months of studying and stressing about the boards, I was extremely excited when I found out I passed my boards. In fact, I screamed so loud when I found out I passed, I believe I woke up my entire neighborhood that night. I was beyond excited to begin my journey as a physical therapist assistant, but first I had to find a job. As I was sending my resume out waiting for emails, or phone calls for an interview, I became anxious since I would be entering the work force again after 12 years. New fears of how do I bring my cochlear implant up in an interview, and what challenges do I face in the work force with my cochlear implant? After discussing my fears with other professionals, and learning how to conduct myself in an job interview my confidence grew. I also had moments of doubt when I did interview and did not receive a job offer, but I do feel each one of those interviews prepared me for the one interview where I received a full-time job offer. I am LOVING my job and company I work for, and I am extremely blessed to have this amazing opportunity.
One of the hardest lessons for me to learn is to believe in myself, easy to say but hard to do. I am a perfectionist, always striving to be the best, and at times it is exhausting. I believe I instilled the perfectionist role since I was little girl, because I always wanted to be more than my Deafness. Daily I have to work on letting go of what I can't control, accept what is, and know it is ok to not be perfect. Having a disability doesn't mean a dream or goal can not happen, as I have learned throughout my life, if you want something bad enough find a way to make it happen. My Deafness has taught me more about myself than I could ever imagine, some good and some bad, but the one thing I have taught myself, don't give up when challenges are hard, keep moving forward, and always BELEIVE.
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