When I was a small child, I contacted a fever which left me vision-impaired. At that time, I was young and did not see the ramifications of how this impairment would affect me in later life. Nor, did I want to. Instead, I did what all children did. Most people did not notice the impairment because I hid it very well. I never said anything to anyone about it. I did not want to be different.
As I got older, I realized that this imitation represented more good than bad. I can still remember a woman and her daughter coming into my salon and the Mom told me that her daughter's ears stuck out. Besides embarrassing the daughter, this Mother made an issue about something that could be fixed! My response? "Aren't you lucky, Cindy. You have a problem that can be fixed. My eye problem will never be fixed, so I had to learn to accept it." The interview ended up with an appointment for the daughter to have her ears "pinned back."
I'll never understand why ANYONE thinks they have the right to tell someone what they can or cannot do. My grade school was fine for me, but at college, a trained professional said these words to me: "I'm sorry, you are just not College Material."
I didn't listen.
Instead, I went to a Community College, where I was given an IQ test and scored in the superior range of intelligence. It was then that I received a grant for an Associates Degree. Due to this good experience, I knew that I could learn. I, really, thought all hope was lost when I moved to the Detroit Area after marrying my husband. We set up an appointment with an opthamologist and three doctors just stood there in amazement upon their examination of me. "Can you believe this," one doctor exclaimed. "I've only read about this," the other doctor yelled out. "This is such a freak condition," said yet another. There I was, at 24 years old, tears running down my cheeks, being told I was a freak!
However, I recovered from this appointment and moved on to having children (even though I was told not to... because I would mess up their lives with my eye condition and they would inherit this,) and went back to school. Once in college, again, I had to regain my confidence, so I took one course in Psychology. At the end of the course, the professional wrote in my final paper, "By the time I finished reading your manuscript, I had tears in my eyes and was crying." This man changed my life.
At the age of 36, I went through college for a Bachelors Degree and at the same time I was in my senior year also worked on my Master's Degree. At the age of 48, I went back for a Ph.D. I graduated with the highest honors and being part of only 1% of the population with a Ph.D. I was proud.
In 1985, I opened a business and the rest is history. My refusal to give up on myself, no matter what anyone said to me, was unyielding.
If anyone reading this article has been told something negative, there is hope. Do not get discouraged. You will prevail.
