Inspiring Futures: AboutFace Scholarship Program

Ever since I was born, I knew I was different. I knew that I was going to be way different then all the other kids in my elementary school. l was born with a lymphangioma, if you did not know, it is where lymphnodes are intertwined with muscles and nerves; l was one of the lucky people to have one in my upper right lip.

As a young child, I was introduced to AboutFace. I attended Camp Trailblazers and participated in community socials like ice skating in Toronto, and the annual Christmas potluck. AboutFace has opened me up to a community where I feel accepted for everything and anything that I am. They have changed my life for the better. I will never be able to thank them enough for that.

Since I practically grew up in the hospital, I was introduced to so many amazing social workers. They helped me out so much when I was going through a lot of surgeries - they would calm me down, bring me sand to play with, help me with my fear of needles, and let me play with the hospital IPAD when I was waiting to go into my surgery. Because of the amazing care I got from the Social Workers at the hospital, this is what I have had planned to go to school for, for almost a decade.

Thanks in part to this scholarship, I will be attending the Social Work Program at Lakehead University this fall. My goal is to become a Social Worker in a hospital so I can give back to patients that are going through the same experience as I did as a child. I want to be able to help people for the greater good.

I have already gained experience with helping people, and being around people with special needs because I have taken a co-op placement with one of the special educations classes in my local high school, Cayuga Secondary School. ln this co-op I learn about the different needs that the students need help with. Since being in the co-op, and due to the fact my mother works with deaf and blind people, I have been around people with special needs for a long time. I knew that this is
what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Thank you AboutFace for helping me reach my goal to become a Social Worker and to help others!

Links:

• http://www.aboutface.ca

To me, AboutFace means confidence. Confidence to live the life I want and ignore anyone who would tell me that I cannot accomplish my goals. When I was younger, before my involvement with AboutFace, my self-esteem was not spectacular. During middle school I was bullied due to my facial difference and I lacked the techniques and confidence to deal with it. Since being involved with AboutFace I have learned that my difference does not define me and I no longer allow it, or others using it, to stop me from accomplishing any goal that I set out for myself. My self-esteem has risen tremendously and as a result I now have confidence in myself and in my abilities, something that I may have never gained without the help of AboutFace.

My involvement with AboutFace has had an incredible impact on my life. When I attended BC Camp Trailblazers in 2007,I had such a fantastic experience and it was unlike any other camp that I had ever attended. I never imagined that going to a camp with other teens that had facial differences would have such an amazing impact on me. After camp I did not feel alone anymore, as I connected with other people who understood  what I was going through in life.

Being involved with AboutFace gave me confidence through out my highschool years and helped me become an active part of my school as well as my community. This past March, I went to South Africa on a service trip with my Global Perspectives class and we worked with Sizabantwana, a non-governmental organization located there, to help renovate a schoolhouse in a rural community. While we were there we also worked with the local children at the school and at a nearby orphanage. Going to South Africa was an amazing opportunity, an opportunity I do not think I would have been able to embrace had I not had the confidence and experiences that I received through AboutFace.

Through twelve years of Scouting, volunteering with children and, of course, Camp Trailblazers, I have decided that I would like to work with children who have disabilities. I am planning to take the Classroom and Community Support Diploma, with an autism specialty, through Douglas College. This is a two-year diploma course with the option to continue on for an additional two years to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care. I am certain that this would be a fitting career path for me as people with disabilities, just like people with facial differences, are judged based on their appearance. The AboutFace scholarship will allow me to follow my dream and help me empower youth with the ability to achieve their goals. I want to use my experiences to help encourage them, while also promoting awareness and acceptance of those with facial differences in society.