I am bursting at the seams, over the moon happy right now because my AAPD internship started on Sunday and for the past five days I've been non-stop talking about disability and learning about disability and meeting people whose jobs it is to speak and educate and advocate in the field of disability. It's amazing. When I'm at school, I'm That Person, the one student who talks about disability. I am by no means the only person at the Claremont Colleges who knows or cares about disability issues (though there are regretfully few of us), but I am the most outspoken, and, as president of the Disability Illness and Difference Alliance (DIDA), the most active. So to come here and be surrounded by people who are just as engaged, just as passionate, and just as informed, if not more so, is kind of incredible. My roommate, Karin, is already becoming a good friend, as are a number of the other interns. Everyone in the program is so interesting and has so much to offer, and it really does feel like I'm meeting people that I could be working with for the rest of my life. In addition to the interns, the program has given us the opportunity to meet leaders in the community, people who are doing the work that I want to do, trailblazers who have made my presence here possible. Last night I sat with about five other interns and we listened to Yoshiko Dart tell the story of the ADA. It doesn't get better than that.
I should get some rest now, because one of the side effects of this program is that all I want to do is talk about disability with all of the other interns all the time, but I'll be posting more going forward. I start my internship on the Hill next week, so that will be an exciting new adventure!
Some of us interns with Yoshiko Dart!
[Image description: A group of young people, some of them standing, some of them using wheelchairs, crowds around an older woman. On the right side of the picture is a middle-aged woman, also a disability rights advocate.]
