Four days in a chair (Part 1) Day 3

Yesterday wasn't nearly as bad as I predicted. Going to class was rather fun and wheeling around campus was interesting and educational. The best/most intense part was interacting with other students in wheelchairs. I feel like such a fake and it really drives home the finality of their situations. For me it's just a couple of days. It's a novelty. For them it's their life.

I don't want to jump to conclusions about what it's like to live in a chair. Simply because you don't have a disability doesn't mean you hate your life or anything like that. However, there is no arguing that it's harder. The world we live in is designed for people with 10 fingers, 10 toes, two legs and two arms.

I was walking um... I mean rolling... through Lee-Kildow Hall. I was waiting for the elevator. People were walking around me ignoring or trying to ignore the my 'condition'. When the elevator finally reached the second floor there was another person in a chair.

Breanna Walt was paralyzed in a car accident two or three years ago. I read about it while I was in drivers ed. Breanna was a 4.0 student and an athlete and Lakeland Highschool. The accident changed her life forever.

When I met her she was obviously concerned about whether or not I was truly injured. I explained what I was doing. She asked what I thought so far. I said I thought it was hard.

She said, and I could see it all, the despair and even anger,
"It's hard. It's so hard."