School has been in session for a whole month now. By this point, you’ve settled into a rhythm, made some new friends and gotten into some sort of mischief with old ones. Maybe you’ve gotten hooked once again on your favorite HICCUP drink, banged your head on a table a few times and prophesied your death by homework, and probably gained a few stubborn pounds of Bistro cookies – no one’s judging, especially members of Asbury’s Visible and Invisible Disabilities Alliance.
Last year, senior Regan O’Brien, sophomore Gabby Newman and junior Kayle Kickertz founded VIDA as a safe space for students to find support, community, and a sense of belonging while navigating college with disabilities.
“We aim to provide a community for those living with visible and invisible disabilities and those that support them, to empathize, identify, and understand,” said Kickertz, who now serves as President of VIDA.
This year, there are a lot more animals. Some are emotional support animals or service dogs. Kickertz holds the mantra of community and support, regardless of the exact purpose these animals serve.
“I love seeing more students getting the support they need,” she said.
Integrating bodies of support into college life is essential to a student’s well-being, confidence and success across all life’s struggles. VIDA seeks to empower students not only at Asbury, but throughout the nation, to live life to their fullest capacity during their college years and grow into confident young adults who will make an impact for others with disabilities. Being a part of a community where we can admit we need help or don’t know what we’re doing, or hang out and study with people who get our quirks, or pick up the phone and have someone there beside us in minutes – no questions asked – it’s amazing.
Even if you wouldn’t say you have a disability, there are plenty of things out there that generally make life harder to navigate. VIDA is all about raising awareness to those needs. If you’re a perfectly healthy human, first of all, seriously, kudos to you. Second, VIDA is a place for you, too. The more people join, the more exposure to and education about disabilities Asburians will have, and the more lives we can touch.
If you’re reading this and thinking, yes, this is for me, but I’m scared, embarrassed, not ready for people to know, not ready to tell my story, let me speak from experience for a moment.
So am I.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m not going to deny that I have spent my fair share of days curled up in the hallway somewhere wishing the floor would swallow me, or talking in circles to avoid explaining why I am the way I am. I’m not going to deny that I still feel funny when people see me walk by with my service dog, as much as I love him. I won’t say I’ve enjoyed being at a point where my mind and body can process trauma and the loss of function that comes with it. It’s not easy to reconstruct your entire life and make the sacrifices to take care of yourself, but I promise you that embracing disability is one of the bravest, most freeing steps you will ever take. Whether that means getting the accommodations you need to succeed in college, taking better care of your body and mind, letting people see a scar you’ve hidden, or even meeting God and maybe a close friend in that place of vulnerability… of course it won’t be easy.
But it will be good.
And to you who may be reading this from a different perspective – maybe you don’t have a disability, but you know someone who does, even someone who came to this campus seemingly free of disability – Kickertz speaks to the vision VIDA has for Asbury as a whole.
“Give them space, but be there for them,” Kickertz said. “It’s a very difficult life at times, just like a life without disability is, and people with disabilities are no different in needing support. They may just need extra.”
If you’re looking for an opportunity to get involved or to see what it’s like to live with disabilities, be on the lookout for VIDA’s Inclusionary Sports Day and Goalball Day at the Luce Center as we enter into the fall season.