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So here I am after waiting way too long to write again. Let’s see, every time I do this, I have no idea where to begin…
Summers over and I’ve already started my fall term at College of San Mateo. I don’t know if I ever mentioned this, but I was accepted to University of San Francisco for this current term, but I guess I just ended up wussing out and decided to defer to the spring term. I’m still not completely sure if that is even going to end up happening, but that’s the plan for now. Just the idea of shifting my daily priority from trying to regain independence to school freaks me out a little bit… I mean, school’s always going to be there, right? So in the meantime I’m taking a couple core- curriculum classes online (which are proving to be quite a struggle in comparison to past classes I’ve taken online).
Okay, so lets get into a little about my summer. I took an online summer class and thought I had committed to an increase in rigorous physical training, but that took longer than I had hoped to pick up some momentum.
Oh oh oh! I spent my first two weeks without my ma since the accident. She finally got the chance to go back home and see her family. It’s about time she’s able to move around more freely. All right, so I wasn’t completely alone… my wonderful little brother was there to take care of me during the times that my caregiver wasn’t. I can barely express in words how impressed I was with him. I mean honestly, how often do you find a teenage boy who puts everything aside to take care of his sister? I’m not even going to go into the things he did for me, but I can tell you there are probably not a lot of people who would do this for another human being. I completely admire how loving and supportive he has been. I love him!
A couple months ago, I started playing… wait for it… wheelchair rugby! Haha umm the best way to find out what it is would probably be to search it on youtube. Don’t be scared, I’m definitely not good enough to be knocked out of my chair or anything. As much as I suck, I am thoroughly enjoying it!! The first day I went to go check it out I was terrified! It’s mostly guys just ramming into each other in a rage to get the ball. But these “scary” guys ended up being some of the most amazing people I have ever met. They are all quadriplegics and the majority of them are completely independent! I’ve been so amazed and inspired ever since I have met them. I’ve even made girlfriends! Awesooome. A lot of things have just changed since I started being involved.
I’ve recently made a slight switch in my goals as well:
Of course ultimately I would like to walk and go back to “normal,” but this is no longer my sole focus. What I really want from walking and being “normal” is to regain my independence (relying on another person to do absolutely everything for you can be demoralizing at times). I’ve realized that my independence does not fully depend on me walking again, walking would just be a plus. I truly believe that I owe this realization the people I have been blessed to meet in the last couple of months.

LOVE.JULIA.