Excuse me ma’am,

If I could have your attention one last time. It was a few years ago that we met, but sometimes it feels like it was just the other day. Because society says you sould, you asked me what I wanted to do when I graduated high school. The eager and young freshman I was told you about my dream school, my dream job, and as we talked, your face turned from boredom to disdain. With distaste in your eyes, you told me I shouldn’t and couldn't pursue these things because of my disability. Yo told me it was better for me to get a new dream and attempted to pick one out for me. I didn’t know you, and you certainly didn’t know me, but you thought it would be okay to discount all the things I wanted to do with my life. You not only hurt my feelings that day. You caused me to have doubts in myself for a long time. I began to question everything. You made me wonder about my self worth, my talents, and my abilities. You, with one conversation took an already self conscious girl and made her dislike herself even more. I am still trying to rebuild from the damage that you caused. Ma’am I know i have a disability. I know I am not the smartest, most talented or prettiest, but I do work hard and Iwork to earn what I get. It took me the rest of highschool to realize it wasn’t your choice, or anyone else’s for that matter. It was mine and always had been. I despite my disability and despite the fact that the odds are against me can follow whatever dream I have, and nobody can take that away from me. It was my dream and my decision, and you didn’t have a right to tell me what I could and couldn’t do. It was supposed to be your job to tell me what I could do, and encourage me to try my hardest. Whether or not I ended up at that school I talked about or whether or not I end up with that job i told you about is irrelevant. What is important is that I would be fulfilling my dream, because it’s mine, and not anybody else's. There is one thing I would like to thank you for though. You taught me how I should never treat a person. So when my baby girl tells me what she wants to be, I get to look into her eager young eyes and tell her to run with it, and not to let anyone stop her.