S2 Episode 5: A Young Lady's Perspective On Living With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 7A

Description of Image: Black background On the left is an African American female with a white off the shoulder shirt in a wheelchair. Then Queens On A Roll in Gray Letters with a purple outline with a crown on the Q. The word Roll looks like a wheelchair and the word podcast in Gray Letters with a purple outline in all four corners

In this episode I sit down with my little sis, Jessica and discuss what it is like living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 7A, a connective tissue disorder and her future endeavors.

Transcript

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(Instrumental Music)

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(Instrumental Music) You gotta Dstackz beat

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(Instrumental Music) Yeah, I gotta Dstackz beat

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(Instrumental Music)

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(Instrumental Music) Listen to the beat, y'all

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(Instrumental Music)

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(Instrumental Music) Come on, Dstackz.

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(Instrumental Music) Bring it in.

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(Instrumental Music)

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Heyyyy, Heyyy, Hey, Hey

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(Instrumental Music)

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Woo Queens On A Roll, Woohoo Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Powerful Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Beautiful Queens, Queens, Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) We're moving, we're grooving, we're jamming, we're slamming Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) We're moving, we're grooving, we're jamming, we're slamming Queens, Queens, Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) She's educating and inspiring everyone that has challenges. Queens, Queens, Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) She's educating and inspiring everyone and having fun. She's Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Woo Queens On A Roll, Woohoo Queens On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Powerful Queen On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Beautiful Queen On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Come Roll with Us, Wooohoo Come Roll with Us

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Come Roll with Us, Wooohoo Come Roll with Us

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Wooo Queens On A Roll Woohoo Queen On A Roll

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(Instrumental Music & Singing) Oooo Queens, Queens Queens (Bells chiming)

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Hey, everyone, and welcome back to

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Queens On A Roll podcast.

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This is Latavia here, and I have my

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lovely sis Jessica here with me today.

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Say hi, Jess.

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Hey guys, what's up? Hey

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How are you feeling today? Good. How are you?

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I'm doing good. I'm doing good

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So today I brought you on the show to talk

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about your disability a little bit and to talk about

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what you've been up to, because, just like me, you

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are a queen out here, killing it.

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So are you ready to roll? Yes.

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All right, let's roll.

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(Instrumental Music)

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So, Jess, can you tell me a little bit

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about what is your ablly difference or your disability?

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Okay, so I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome type 7A.

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It's a connective tissue disorder.

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I lack collagen, which holds your joints in place.

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And all my joints are dislocated.

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My skin tears very easily and bruises,

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and I also have scoliosis and kyposis. Okay.

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How does that feel having

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all your joints, like, dislocated?

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It doesn't hurt me.

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It actually hurts me when you try to put it back in.

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So one time I had an occupational therapist basically told me,

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oh, no, you need to have your joints in place.

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So you know she turned my arm to try to push it in,

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and unfortunately, I had to go to the Er because I

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was in excruciating pain because I couldn't get it back the

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way I had it, where I was fine.

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But my knee and my hip

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do dislocate sometimes, which is painful.

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It dislocates more than it normally is, so it is a

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little painful when someone tries to put it back in.

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I rely on someone to do everything for me.

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And how is it like having

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someone do everything for you?

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It could be frustrating.

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Once I graduated from HVS and I went to college,

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about a year into college, I had to find a

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new aide which is very difficult because you know, you can't just

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get any random person you know, they have to be comfortable

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with taking care of me and they have to be

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able to lift me because I can't walk.

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But I think also it's challenging because, as you probably know,

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the pay is really bad you know, aides don't really get paid,

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so it's hard to find somebody that wants to work for a little

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bit of money, and you know they do a lot.

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Basically, you know my aid is my arms and my legs.

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Yeah, that's definitely hard.

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I always found having aides frustrating for me because

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it was like, sometimes they would want to do

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things on their own time, and I'm more of

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like, if I could do this myself, I would

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just do it because I don't wanna wait.

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Like I was more of the impatient type, so

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I was just like, you know what?

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I have to figure out a way to do this cuz

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I'm tired of people waiting on me hand and foot.

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So I kind of figured out some strategies to help me.

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But um yeah, that part of it for me can be

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sometimes frustrating, I think also its like, you have to make your

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schedule based on you know whether you have an aide or not.

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So that is super frustrating for me because you know once I get a job,

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I have to you know make my schedule based on my aide's schedule, or you know if

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I want to go out, I can't just you know pick up and go Right I also worry about you know when

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I have to be home because they have to leave.

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That could be really frustrating because I

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can't really make my own schedule.

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Yeah, I found that frustrating too, which is why now,

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like, for the little things, I rely on my mom

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a lot because I'm like, it's easier to work around

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my mama's schedule than somebody else's schedule.

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But I would say like, see if your workplace

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will give you as much accommodations as possible.

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And yeah, that is difficult when you have

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to work around another person's schedule, it can

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be hard, especially when you're outgoing and you

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want to go, because they also have time

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constraints too, so it makes life completely difficult.

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You always have to consider another person, and sometimes that

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is very difficult when you're outgoing, because you just want

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to be able to get up and go.

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How do you manage feeling frustrating in that moment?

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I try to think you know, this is temporary. You know

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I can do another time. You know

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There's always tomorrow or later.

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Sometimes I have to cancel plans. You know

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I'm like, oh, maybe it wasn't meant for

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me or maybe i'll go somewhere better tomorrow, or

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I gotta to do something else.

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Maybe I need to make time to do my homework. You know

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I think your perspective on it is way better than

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when I handled it when I was a kid.

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Like, I remember being a child and I used

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to say, well, dag, if I wasn't disabled,

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I wouldn't have to work around someone's schedule.

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So I think your outlook on it and I commend you

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on it is way better than what mine used to be.

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I think now I have adopted that mind frame too.

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Like, well, maybe it wasn't meant for me to go.

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Or I am more of like if someone shuts the door

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on my face and says, no, I try to find another

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back door because that's just how I am as a person.

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But I do like your perspective on it.

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It's just like when I was younger,

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that was super frustrating for me.

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And I think it's frustrating too, when our

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parents raised us to be independent, right?

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So you have this independent mind frame.

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Like, I can do it.

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Get up and go, get up and move.

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And then you're like, oh, but there's

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still some things I need help with.

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Which is good because we all need to

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stand on someone's shoulders to get there.

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It's just sometimes we got to get out

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of our heads with the independent mind frame.

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So I commend you on your outlook on it cuz

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sometimes and my mom never wanted this for me, but

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sometimes there are moments where you say to yourself, like if

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I didn't have this disability, I'd be able to move.

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Right?

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We all have our like good, positive

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outlook days and are, are down days. You know

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So we're human, right?

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(Delayed Beat sound Effect)

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(Its Fun Fact Time Sound Effect)

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And today's

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fun fact, guys, pertains to kyphosis.

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Kyphosis is another curvature of the

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spine, and it's actually an exaggerated

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forward rounding of the upper back.

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So it gives you, like, the appearance

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of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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And in older people, kyphosis is often

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due to weakness in the spinal bone

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that causes them to compress or crack.

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And infants and teens its due to malformation of the

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spine or wedging of the spinal bones over time. And this information is courtesy of orthopedics.com.

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(Instrumental Music)

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Did you have to have any

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surgeries, like, due to your disability?

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I've had about 33, wooo way more than me.

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You beat my record.

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I had 18.

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I've had a lot of back surgeries because

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I have rods in my back, due to

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my scoliosis, pretty much everywhere on my body.

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I've had surgery.

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I think I've had about probably

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18 on my back, actually.

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Wow, that's a lot.

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And it has to be painful.

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I have VEPTR rods so, every year until I was

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about 18, they lengthen it because I kept growing.

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And then once I stopped growing,

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they just leave the rods.

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And that had to be painful because I know

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for me, when I had a surgery, it always

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felt like I was starting from square one.

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Did that feel like that for you?

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It wasn't too painful that I

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was getting used to it you know, actually.

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There was always like a joke in school,

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oh, Jessica gonna have surgery and

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she's gonna come back tomorrow.

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(Latavia chucking)

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I didn't really go back the next day

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But I did go back the same week,

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so it didn't bother me too much.

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I just got used to it over time.

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I think that's the sucky part.

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Like, you get used to the routine, like,

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up I have to have another surgery. Cuz for me, it was surgeries through growth spurts. So like

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Every time I had a growth spurt, I had to get a

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tendon lengthen, hamstring done, or if the hip came out the

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socket, then I had to go put it back in. So yeah.

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Any challenges you face now, like,

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with your disability as an adult?

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I think as an adult, i'm definitely a lot better. You know

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I haven't had surgery over maybe seven years.

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That's good. Yeah.

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So definitely a lot better.

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I do have spasms, so that gets worse as I get older.

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And I also had hamstring surgery, like you,

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but unfortunately it didn't last too long.

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So my hamstrings are tight again.

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Oh, no.

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But I think that's really it. You know

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I try to go to therapy even though that's

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hard because insurance, they don't wanna cover it.

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Yeah, I was actually talking

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about that in another episode.

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Either insurance doesn't want to cover it or

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you can't find it, or it's not the

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same intensity as when you were a kid.

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So it's completely different.

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And I really don't understand the rationale

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of, like, not giving us the same

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therapy as when we were children.

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I know some of the thought

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process is, probably you know because children can change.

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They grow and evolve.

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Adults were only, like, maintaining.

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But if you don't give us that same

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type of rigorous exercise, we can't maintain. Exactly.

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I also feel like a lot of therapists rather work

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with children because you can see so much progress in

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a short amount of time versus an adult.

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But physical therapist, occupational therapist, even in my profession,

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speech therapist, we need you out there to help

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with adults, we are still out here.

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We're still trying to maintain and live our lives.

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So please consider moving over into adulthood.

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We need you.

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(Cartoon Stair Climbing Sound Effect)

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Any other challenges?

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The biggest challenge, not with my disability

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per se may be related to it, but fighting

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Insurance for basic equipment that I need, which

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I'm sure you go through as well. Aww yes

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Just really frustrating because I need what I'm

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asking for, and they act like I'm asking

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for an iPhone or something and traveling.

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As I said before, I had an issue with Delta Airlines.

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They lost my chair and then finally found it

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and then gave it back to me broken.

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So that's not fun.

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It is definitely not fun.

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And it's one of the reasons why I don't

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travel by plane, cuz that happened to me once.

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(Story Time Sound Effect)

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So when I was younger and my family and I

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were returning back from Florida, and this is when I

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had a manual chair, my mom placed me in my

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manual chair and was rolling me down the terminal.

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And all of a sudden I said, mom, my wheel.

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And she said, oh, my God, your wheel is off the chair.

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My wheel was rolling down the terminal

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and it almost hit a mam

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My aunt actually had to chase it down, run it

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down, run down the terminal to try to get it.

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We made a complaint and said,

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listen, they broke my wheelchair.

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And the lady said, I'm so sorry to hear that.

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Here, fill out the complaint form.

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But I'm going to tell you right now, the

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airline is not going to pay for it.

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So from that day forth, I

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never took another plane again.

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So I can understand how you felt in that moment because

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that is why I don't travel by plane at all.

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Even traveling locally is hard cuz I don't know about

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you, but I use Access-A-Ride, so it's not on demand.

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You know I have to book it 24 to 48 hours before.

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But you know sometimes what if I wanna go out with

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my friends you know one day I wake up I wanna

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go out with whoever I can't because Access-A-Ride

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doesn't come on demand, so that could be frustrating.

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But fortunately I'm getting my own car.

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I'm learning how to drive. Oh so am I

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I'm learning how to drive too. Yeah

(15:12.9 - 15:14.8)

Yeah, I'm learning how to drive

(15:14.9 - 15:16.6)

almost close to the road test.

(15:16.6 - 15:19.5)

So you might see me on a road near you and I'm

(15:19.5 - 15:23.6)

going to talk about driving in a whole nother episode, guys.

(15:23.6 - 15:24.7)

So stay tuned.

(15:24.8 - 15:26.9)

That is a process in itself.

(15:27.1 - 15:29.1)

Stay tuned because I'm going to

(15:29.1 - 15:31.1)

have a whole show on it.

(15:31.2 - 16:17.3)

(Instrumental Music)

(16:17.3 - 16:20.6)

What positive aspects has your disability presented?

(16:20.7 - 16:23.9)

I would say positive given me opportunities and

(16:24.0 - 16:27.5)

experiences that other people probably wouldn't get.

(16:27.7 - 16:30.2)

I go to college. Awesome.

(16:30.3 - 16:32.2)

I mean, I do everything like everyone

(16:32.3 - 16:35.7)

else I don't let my disability stop me.

(16:35.8 - 16:37.6)

I would say for me, it's taught me

(16:37.6 - 16:40.2)

to appreciate just the small things in life.

(16:40.3 - 16:43.4)

You know, I would say that's the biggest positive impact

(16:43.4 - 16:46.5)

for me, just appreciate the little things in life.

(16:46.5 - 16:48.6)

(Cartoon Going Downstairs Sound Effect)

(16:48.6 - 16:52.1)

What were some challenges you had going through school?

(16:52.2 - 16:54.4)

Well, like you, I went to Henry Viscardi School

(16:54.4 - 16:57.8)

school, so everything was pretty much catered to us. You know

(16:57.9 - 17:00.1)

Everything was there, whatever we needed.

(17:00.2 - 17:03.2)

But going to college the most challenging

(17:03.2 - 17:05.1)

was as crazy as it sounds.

(17:05.2 - 17:07.8)

But finding an accessible bathroom, Oh

(17:07.8 - 17:09.3)

is not crazy at all.

(17:09.3 - 17:11.0)

That was difficult for me too.

(17:11.1 - 17:13.7)

And it took me a couple of months for

(17:13.8 - 17:17.4)

them to actually build an accessible bathroom for me

(17:17.4 - 17:19.9)

to use because they didn't have one on campus.

(17:20.0 - 17:23.8)

And you know for an able body person, this is nothing to them.

(17:23.9 - 17:26.0)

You know They can just use whatever bathroom.

(17:26.0 - 17:29.0)

So that was difficult to you know get the funding

(17:29.1 - 17:31.7)

and tell my college, hey, I need this.

(17:31.7 - 17:33.6)

This is something I need in order for

(17:33.6 - 17:35.3)

me to stay here for four years.

(17:35.4 - 17:37.2)

But it definitely had its perks. You know

(17:37.3 - 17:39.0)

I got to pick my own schedule.

(17:39.1 - 17:42.0)

I finally got to be myself and not have rus.

(17:42.1 - 17:45.8)

Coming from HVS, there was a lot of rules. You know

(17:45.8 - 17:47.1)

Yeah, definitely.

(17:47.3 - 17:49.0)

Something that's different from us is like

(17:49.1 - 17:51.1)

I started out in general ed, right.

(17:51.1 - 17:53.8)

I didn't go my entire time through HVS.

(17:53.9 - 17:56.7)

So one question I'm gonna pose to you is

(17:56.8 - 18:00.3)

did you find it difficult, like going through the entire

(18:00.4 - 18:04.2)

time through HVS and then having to go through college?

(18:04.2 - 18:06.7)

How was it navigating being ably

(18:06.8 - 18:09.5)

different in an able body world? Definitely.

(18:09.6 - 18:11.8)

I remember my first day at college, I was

(18:11.8 - 18:14.4)

looking for as many wheelchairs as I could find.

(18:14.4 - 18:17.1)

I was actually sitting between a tree and

(18:17.1 - 18:19.4)

a chair and I remember saying, like I feel

(18:19.4 - 18:21.2)

like I'm the only one in a wheelchair.

(18:21.3 - 18:22.3)

This is so weird.

(18:22.4 - 18:25.8)

You know coming from HVS, I've seen so many wheelchairs

(18:25.9 - 18:28.6)

and now it feels like I'm a little person in

(18:28.7 - 18:32.4)

this big campus you know looking for people like me.

(18:32.4 - 18:35.1)

I remember I think I found like five wheelchairs

(18:35.2 - 18:38.3)

and I remember just crying on campus and wondering

(18:38.3 - 18:41.8)

am I really gonna fit in here, right? So Definitely.

(18:42.0 - 18:44.0)

Socially, I felt outta place

(18:44.2 - 18:48.0)

It took me a while to make friends because you know coming

(18:48.0 - 18:51.2)

from HVS, you pretty much make friends right away. You know

(18:51.4 - 18:53.9)

People in your class and you form your friend groups.

(18:53.9 - 18:56.4)

But in college it was kinda hard, you know I didn't wanna

(18:56.4 - 18:58.3)

just go up to someone heyy you wanna be my friend?

(18:58.4 - 18:59.5)

So that was really hard.

(18:59.6 - 19:01.1)

But not even just socially.

(19:01.2 - 19:03.6)

Academically, I struggled a bit, you know,

(19:03.6 - 19:07.1)

at HVS the work wasn't challenging enough, mhhmm

(19:07.1 - 19:09.3)

so I didn't feel as challenged.

(19:09.3 - 19:11.1)

And then when I got to college,

(19:11.3 - 19:13.3)

that's when it really hit me.

(19:13.4 - 19:15.3)

This is really challenging.

(19:15.4 - 19:19.3)

The first year you know I got A's and B's and then towards the

(19:19.4 - 19:23.9)

second year, you know I finally got more A's and I adjusted better.

(19:24.0 - 19:26.3)

It definitely was different also because

(19:26.4 - 19:28.7)

professors, they're not like teachers. You know

(19:28.8 - 19:30.8)

They don't really get to know you. You know

(19:30.9 - 19:32.9)

Maybe they know your name because you sit in

(19:32.9 - 19:34.9)

the front, but they don't really know you.

(19:35.0 - 19:36.6)

So it was kind of hard because

(19:36.6 - 19:38.1)

I didn't wanna ask questions. You know

(19:38.3 - 19:40.4)

I was shy. Yeah.

(19:40.4 - 19:42.7)

So I was gonna say like it's kind of

(19:42.8 - 19:45.9)

tough too when you're shy versus more outgoing.

(19:46.0 - 19:48.1)

So when you're shy, you like to keep

(19:48.1 - 19:51.5)

to yourself you know, and then you gradually make friends.

(19:51.6 - 19:54.5)

But I don't know, I'm starting to realize that being ably

(19:54.6 - 19:57.3)

different, you kind of have to be more outgoing.

(19:57.4 - 19:58.8)

And this is just my personal opinion.

(19:58.9 - 20:02.1)

You have to be more outgoing because people are like so

(20:02.1 - 20:04.8)

afraid to come up to you and get to know you.

(20:04.8 - 20:08.4)

So like you have to have that like outgoing, bubbly personality

(20:08.5 - 20:10.7)

to be like, hey, it's okay to approach me. Like

(20:10.8 - 20:13.3)

If you have any questions, it's okay to talk to me.

(20:13.4 - 20:15.8)

And definitely college is different.

(20:15.9 - 20:17.2)

You really do have to do

(20:17.3 - 20:19.0)

a lot of advocating for yourself.

(20:19.1 - 20:20.6)

Because if you don't, they're not gonna

(20:20.6 - 20:22.8)

give you everything that you need.

(20:22.9 - 20:24.5)

You were talking about having to

(20:24.5 - 20:26.5)

fight for an accessible restroom.

(20:26.5 - 20:28.3)

Did you really have to put up like a

(20:28.4 - 20:31.5)

challenge or were they more like willing to do it?

(20:31.5 - 20:34.8)

So it took about three months just because

(20:34.9 - 20:37.7)

of funding and they had to pretty much

(20:37.7 - 20:39.7)

fit it in their budget, what I needed.

(20:39.8 - 20:42.2)

But I think that was the only challenging part.

(20:42.2 - 20:44.4)

It wasn't that they didn't want to per se.

(20:44.4 - 20:47.2)

It was more that they had a fit it in their budget

(20:47.3 - 20:50.5)

and politics and everything like that got in the way.

(20:50.5 - 20:52.7)

But it wasn't as challenging as

(20:52.8 - 20:54.2)

I thought it would have been.

(20:54.3 - 20:57.0)

I did have a bathroom at first, but it

(20:57.0 - 21:00.1)

was on the second floor and the elevator kept breaking.

(21:00.2 - 21:02.3)

So I had to fight for a

(21:02.4 - 21:05.1)

first floor bathroom because when the elevator broke.

(21:05.1 - 21:07.7)

They didn't have an alternative option for me.

(21:07.8 - 21:09.7)

So either I would go home or

(21:09.7 - 21:12.1)

just wait until class was over. Yeah

(21:12.1 - 21:13.1)

Which is a struggle.

(21:13.1 - 21:15.9)

I'm so grateful to hear that you didn't have to

(21:16.0 - 21:18.5)

go through that struggle as much as I did.

(21:18.6 - 21:21.9)

So that shows that University and colleges are getting a little

(21:21.9 - 21:24.7)

bit better, but they had to do a lot more work,

(21:24.8 - 21:28.0)

a lot more work just to be more inclusive. You know

(21:28.1 - 21:30.9)

And I think they're trying, but I think the problem

(21:31.0 - 21:33.4)

is that they don't have enough of us sitting at

(21:33.4 - 21:36.7)

the table saying, hey, what the ADA requires you to

(21:36.7 - 21:38.6)

do is kind of like the bare minimum.

(21:38.6 - 21:40.2)

If you want to step it up and you want

(21:40.2 - 21:42.5)

to be more inclusive, here's what you gotta do.

(21:42.6 - 21:44.2)

I feel like there needs to be more

(21:44.2 - 21:46.7)

of us sitting at the table explaining that.

(21:46.7 - 21:49.1)

I'm glad that you were able to navigate that

(21:49.2 - 21:51.6)

whole thing and you are killing it in school.

(21:51.7 - 21:52.9)

You're doing amazing.

(21:53.1 - 21:56.1)

(Twinkling Sound Effect)

(21:56.2 - 21:57.4)

Can you tell us some more

(21:57.5 - 21:59.5)

about what your future endeavors are?

(21:59.6 - 22:01.6)

Well, I got my bachelor's degree in

(22:01.7 - 22:03.8)

psychology and now I'm going to grad

(22:03.8 - 22:06.4)

school to be an elementary school teacher.

(22:06.5 - 22:07.1)

OOOO

(22:07.1 - 22:10.3)

I'm studying general education and special education.

(22:10.4 - 22:12.8)

I don't know what type of teacher I want to be.

(22:12.9 - 22:15.6)

I want to do 1-6th though okay.

(22:15.8 - 22:18.7)

So I have two years for grad school and then I

(22:18.7 - 22:21.4)

plan to be a teacher and then I plan to go

(22:21.4 - 22:24.7)

back to school after about five years or so and get

(22:24.7 - 22:27.4)

my administration license so I can be a principal.

(22:27.4 - 22:29.8)

OOO Those are very lofty goals, but

(22:29.8 - 22:31.3)

I know you can reach them.

(22:31.4 - 22:32.8)

What made you want to do

(22:32.8 - 22:35.1)

general education and special education?

(22:35.3 - 22:38.8)

Because I want to see more inclusion in classrooms.

(22:38.9 - 22:42.4)

I think even though they say the classrooms are

(22:42.4 - 22:45.5)

inclusive, I think that you can see the gap

(22:45.6 - 22:48.7)

between disabled people and able body students.

(22:48.8 - 22:51.2)

And I want to close that gap and make sure

(22:51.2 - 22:54.3)

that there is more inclusion in the classroom and not

(22:54.3 - 22:57.7)

just you know that disabled person in the corner with their para

(22:57.7 - 22:59.7)

trying to keep up with the class.

(22:59.8 - 23:02.5)

I want to be teacher that includes everyone and

(23:02.6 - 23:06.6)

make sure that activities are adaptable and that the

(23:06.7 - 23:09.6)

student can do everything else just like their classmates.

(23:09.8 - 23:11.7)

I definitely agree with you.

(23:11.8 - 23:13.7)

Even in my profession, I'm like you know

(23:13.7 - 23:16.3)

there needs to be more exclusion. And

(23:16.3 - 23:19.2)

You need to make everyone feel as one.

(23:19.3 - 23:20.8)

So I definitely agree with you

(23:20.9 - 23:23.9)

and I support your mission 100%.

(23:24.0 - 23:25.3)

What makes you want to become

(23:25.3 - 23:26.9)

a principal in the future?

(23:27.1 - 23:30.4)

I think as a teacher you don't have as much power

(23:30.5 - 23:33.8)

to change, structure things on how you want to so

(23:33.8 - 23:36.5)

As a principal, I want to make sure that I

(23:36.5 - 23:41.3)

can change the rules and fight for disabled people, not

(23:41.3 - 23:43.9)

just in the classroom, but in the world.

(23:44.0 - 23:46.0)

You have my power to go to meetings

(23:46.0 - 23:48.3)

with the district and make a change.

(23:48.4 - 23:51.8)

I think maybe a 20 year or 30 year plan

(23:51.8 - 23:53.9)

I want to open my home school if possible,

(23:54.0 - 23:57.6)

kind of like HVS, but more mixture of ablebodied

(23:57.6 - 24:01.0)

and disabled students so where the school would have

(24:01.1 - 24:04.5)

a PT, OTS, all the services that they need,

(24:04.5 - 24:08.3)

but public school, private setting, that's awesome.

(24:08.4 - 24:11.1)

And shoot, I will support that 100%.

(24:11.2 - 24:14.3)

I mean, if LeBron opened his own school, right.

(24:14.4 - 24:15.4)

You can do it too.

(24:15.5 - 24:17.0)

So I'm all for that.

(24:17.1 - 24:18.6)

I am definitely all for that.

(24:18.7 - 24:21.4)

And I can honestly see your vision, so I'm

(24:21.4 - 24:24.6)

super proud to see what happens in the future.

(24:24.7 - 24:26.6)

And, you know, I support you 100%.

(24:26.7 - 24:28.2)

You will always be my little sis.

(24:28.3 - 24:31.1)

No matter how old you get, you're still my little sis.

(24:31.2 - 24:34.0)

What is one of your fondest memories?

(24:34.0 - 24:36.8)

Can you tell us? Can I say maybe a favorite memory this year?

(24:36.9 - 24:37.9)

Yeah. Would be

(24:38.0 - 24:40.9)

graduation, oooo what did you do?

(24:40.9 - 24:43.2)

I had a party with my family and my friends.

(24:43.3 - 24:44.7)

But not just the party.

(24:44.8 - 24:47.6)

I think just graduating because you know there's a stigma

(24:47.6 - 24:50.9)

that disabled people don't always go to college. You know

(24:50.9 - 24:53.5)

They're not capable of learning, and I think

(24:53.5 - 24:56.1)

just graduating and saying, I did it.

(24:56.2 - 24:59.4)

And I remember like, looking even at graduation,

(24:59.5 - 25:02.8)

there weren't many disabled people at my graduation.

(25:02.9 - 25:05.9)

So it made me realize this is why the stigma

(25:05.9 - 25:09.3)

is still there, because people don't see it as much.

(25:09.4 - 25:09.8)

Right.

(25:09.9 - 25:11.4)

I definitely agree with you.

(25:11.4 - 25:13.2)

And I had that same feeling

(25:13.3 - 25:14.7)

when I graduated from school.

(25:14.7 - 25:16.6)

I was like, woo, I did it. Right.

(25:16.6 - 25:19.2)

cuz we had so many challenges leading up to it.

(25:19.3 - 25:21.2)

I think people don't realize that

(25:21.3 - 25:22.7)

we have so many challenges.

(25:22.7 - 25:25.8)

You have to juggle academics, which you and

(25:25.8 - 25:28.1)

I have both been in fields where you have

(25:28.1 - 25:30.6)

to keep your academics top notch, right.

(25:30.6 - 25:33.7)

In order to get into, like, the greatest grad schools.

(25:33.7 - 25:37.7)

So you have to maintain a 3.9, 3.6, 3 .8.

(25:37.8 - 25:40.3)

But then, on the other hand, you also have

(25:40.3 - 25:43.4)

these challenges where you also have to make sure

(25:43.5 - 25:46.2)

that everything is accessible for you and you're being

(25:46.3 - 25:49.4)

included and a part of the college as well.

(25:49.4 - 25:51.4)

So you have to struggle to fight for

(25:51.5 - 25:55.6)

accommodation on top of managing your school workload.

(25:55.7 - 25:56.1)

Right.

(25:56.1 - 25:59.1)

So, for me, it was like a relief like I was able

(25:59.2 - 26:04.0)

to juggle these two massive things and still get a degree. Like

(26:04.2 - 26:07.4)

People don't realize how much of a struggle that is.

(26:07.4 - 27:01.3)

(Instrumental Music)

(27:01.4 - 27:04.2)

So I like to always end my

(27:04.2 - 27:06.5)

show with a quote of the episode.

(27:06.7 - 27:09.0)

Do you have any quote for us?

(27:09.1 - 27:12.5)

I always say, Remember to find happiness in every day,

(27:12.6 - 27:16.4)

even if it's finding your favorite book you like to

(27:16.5 - 27:18.9)

read, and reading it for five minutes, as long as

(27:18.9 - 27:22.6)

you at least smile once, it's a good day, right? Yeah.

(27:22.7 - 27:25.1)

And I love that quote because I just mean

(27:25.2 - 27:28.4)

to enjoy every little moment of life, right.

(27:28.5 - 27:30.5)

Even if you're having a bad day

(27:30.5 - 27:33.6)

find the sunshine in the rain, basically. Right.

(27:33.6 - 27:35.7)

So I definitely love that, and

(27:35.7 - 27:37.7)

I definitely try to embody that.

(27:37.7 - 27:39.0)

Like, let's just find a little

(27:39.0 - 27:40.5)

bit of sunshine in the rain.

(27:40.6 - 27:43.3)

So that's all we have for you today, folks.

(27:43.4 - 27:46.1)

Jess thank you for coming on with me.

(27:46.2 - 27:47.2)

You are awesome!

(27:47.4 - 27:48.9)

Can't wait to see the great

(27:49.0 - 27:50.4)

things you do in the future.

(27:50.5 - 27:51.9)

Thank you for having me.

(27:52.1 - 27:54.0)

You are so welcome.

(27:54.1 - 27:56.5)

Thank you again for coming on.

(27:56.6 - 27:58.7)

Thank you guys for supporting,

(27:58.8 - 28:00.9)

liking, sharing and subscribing.

(28:00.9 - 28:02.0)

You guys are amazing.

(28:02.1 - 28:03.4)

You guys are awesome.

(28:03.5 - 28:06.1)

If you would like to continue to support Queens

(28:06.2 - 28:08.2)

on the Road, I have a patreon account.

(28:08.3 - 28:10.7)

You can pick any tier that you want.

(28:10.8 - 28:12.1)

Subscribe to it.

(28:12.2 - 28:13.9)

Subscribe to our YouTube channel,

(28:14.0 - 28:15.7)

subscribe to our Instagram.

(28:15.8 - 28:16.9)

You guys are amazing.

(28:17.0 - 28:18.4)

You guys are awesome.

(28:18.5 - 28:19.9)

Thank you again, Jess.

(28:19.9 - 28:21.1)

Thank you, everyone.

(28:21.3 - 28:23.2)

And we are rolling out.

(28:23.3 - 28:25.7)

Say bye, Jess. Peace out. Keep Rolling!

(28:25.8 - 29:15.5)

(Instrumental Music)

(29:15.6 - 29:22.4)

PLEASE go follow our insta @queensonaroll.podcast & FB Queens On A Roll & submit those questions to queensonaroll.podcast@gmail.com