Emma’s Journey

Hi, my name is Emma, and I graduated from the Scholars with Diverse Abilities Program (SDAP) at Appalachian State University. I love to play piano. I taught myself how to play the piano when I was two years old. My favorite singer that I love to listen to is Taylor Swift. I saw her in concert five years ago.

I’m legally blind. I was born prematurely. I was born in July and was supposed to be born in November. It was very hard for my family because I was born so early, and I had to stay in the NICU for four months after I was born. I’ve been able to do a lot of things by myself that I didn’t know that I could do. When I had the opportunity to go to college, I learned how to do things independently.

I was a part of SDAP at App State for two years. SDAP is the Scholars with Diverse Abilities Program. It’s a two-year program with people who have all sorts of different disabilities. I was able to live in a dorm. The things that I learned how to do independently are doing my own laundry, making my bed, navigating campus, being on a schedule, and making sure to wake up on time for my classes every day. I also advocated for myself and my needs, learned how to vote, learned how to make pancakes for Coffee Talk, cleaned the bathroom, and learned how to ride the bus. I also made it on time to my work shifts at the dining hall.

While at App State, there were a lot of classes that I enjoyed taking. The three classes that I really enjoyed were Gerontology, Music Therapy, and College and Beyond. In Gerontology class, we learned all about aging. I really enjoy working with older adults, so this class helped me learn more about all the different aspects of aging and how it affects someone. Throughout this class, I was able to learn more about older adults that I didn’t know before. The other class that I enjoyed was Music Therapy. In Music Therapy, we learned about using music as a form of therapy for older adults. This was an exciting class that I enjoyed so much because music and older adults definitely have a special place in my heart. College and Beyond is a class where we had lots of different goals and learned how to do things independently. We had four different types of goals. These goals were career, social, academic, and personal independence. These goals were helping me stay on track every week.

Working at the dining hall on campus, I helped serve customers by asking them if they wanted any side dishes to go with their entrées. I loved doing that because I love socializing with people. I’m very social. I also did an internship at a nursing home in Boone called Brian Estates. I love working with older adults very much. Older adults definitely have a special place in my heart. I played lots of different songs on the piano for the residents. I tried to play pieces that they would recognize. I had dinner with them a lot and had conversations with them to get to know them. I have so much experience working with older adults in assisted living. I started working when I was a sophomore in high school. I help out with all sorts of activities at the nursing home in Raleigh that I currently volunteer at called the Cypress Retirement Home. I play chair volleyball, call out bingo, help out with bowling, play the piano and sing for the residents, and watch cooking demonstrations.

While I was at App State, I was a part of lots of different clubs. I did Young Life, which is kind of like church. I’ve been a part of Young Life since high school. I wanted to make sure to continue it while in college. What we did at Young Life was play games, sing karaoke, do trivia, and made prayer requests if anyone had any, and we prayed.

I was in an a cappella group at App State called App Chorale. We sang lots of different songs, and I had two supports with me. Their names were Kallie and Ali. It was so great having them help me out with my music whenever I needed help. They really enjoyed the singing and being there with everyone. I also helped out with an event called Coffee Talk once a month. Coffee Talk is an event with SDAP where the students make and serve breakfast and coffee for whomever would come in the morning. We would also socialize with whomever comes. I did a lot of things at Coffee Talk: I helped set up the tables and chairs, I collected money from people, I made bagels, I served customers, I made coffee at Beans to Brew, I helped close Coffee Talk at 10:45 when it ended, I helped take everything down. I made my favorite thing, pancakes. I enjoyed making pancakes so much because pancakes are one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast and in general. I loved serving pancakes to customers. Making pancakes always puts a big smile on my face.

Overall, my college experience at App State was amazing. At first it was a little scary. Moving away from home and being three hours away was so scary at first. I was missing home and missing my parents so much. They didn’t like me being so far away from them because they were worried about me and wanted to make sure that I was safe. Once I was there and after I adjusted, I got comfortable with my roommates and met a lot of new people. I went from the most concerned student to the most proud and independent student. I graduated from SDAP in the spring of May 2020.