A letter to the director
I graduated from Saint Mary's University on May 24th, 2002, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. This was a major accomplishment for me, because when I was eighteen years old, on February 20th, 1991, I sustained a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. After the accident I was on the neuroward of the Victoria General Hospital for two months and in the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre for three months. I was in grade eleven when I had the accident, and I focused on completing schoolwork during the time I was still in the rehab. I think this helped my recovery because it let me focus on something besides being a sick person, and on getting back to the real world.
I got out of the rehab at the end of July, and went back to school in September. I had to retake most of my grade eleven courses, the next year I did grade twelve, and then I went to Saint Mary's University. The main reason I went to university is because that had been the plan before the accident, and I couldn't think of anything better to do instead. So off to university I went!
For several years after the accident I had to work hard to try to find strategies to compensate for the cognitive impairments caused by the accident. I started keeping a written record of everything to compensate for my poor memory (my daily planner notebook is always with me!) and made sure I gave myself enough time to complete tasks.
I started a Bachelor of Arts degree at Saint Mary's, and found that taking three courses a year was a good course load for me. I kept changing majors because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I tried different schools too, I spent a year at Dalhousie University and a year at Mount Saint Vincent University. I finally decided to stay at Saint Mary's and major in political science. A few years into my degree I talked to someone who suggested I take a Human Resources Management Certificate. I thought it sounded like a good idea. I found that I would be able to do all eight required credits with little difficulty, and people I talked to thought it would be a good addition to a BA.
In the time since my accident I have occasionally encountered people who seemed to think that, because I have a disability, I must be vulnerable and they should be able to take advantage of that. A few of these people have been authority figures I have met at Saint Mary's. I have found that dealing with people who have this attitude is easiest if I remain patient and simply ignore them as much as possible.
After focusing on doing courses for the HR Certificate for one year, I decided it would be a good idea to do the half credit I had left to finish up the Bachelor of Arts degree so I could finally graduate, and I took that arts course during the school year, along with two and a half business credits. The graduation ceremony was quite something. Walking across that stage at the Halifax Metro Centre I was very nervous, but I really felt like I had accomplished something pretty important.
Next year I'll be able to graduate (again!) with the Human Resources Management certificate, and then I will begin the job of finding a full time job!
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