A Wonderful Surprise!

Hi, it's Tina,

We just got back from our trip to S. Carolina and we had a wonderful time at Coastal Carolina University and Myrtle Beach. Daniela will be writing later (She wanted to go straight to her volunteer job at the animal shelter as soon as we got home). Before we go into detail about her interviews at all three programs, I wanted to let you know we had a wonderful surprise in the mail when we got home this morning.

First, I'll give you some background info - Last winter Daniela wrote an essay to apply to be part of the Youth Summit at this year's Virginia Transition Forum.  I wrote in my last post about how inspired she was at the Forum. The students who were part of last year's Youth Summit made a presentation at the conference luncheon. Daniela couldn't believe how much they were accomplishing in their lives. Their logo is "I'm Determined" (https://php.radford.edu/~imdetermined/). These remarkable young people were the main impetus for Daniela really wanting to do something more with her life than working in a sheltered workshop.


Well, Daniela wasn't chosen to be part of this year's Youth Summit (which was held in March). Evidently, there were a large number of applicants. She was very disappointed, but by that point was very involved in applying to the college programs.  I told her not to be upset, that we had lots of things to look forward to. Daniela is extremely resilient and moved on quickly.

Today, when we got home, Daniela got an invitation in the mail from the I'm Determined Project Director. He said "We were impressed with your essay application to the Youth summit this past year and want to offer you an opportunity to increase your self-determination skills and improve your leadership abilities."

In late July, Daniela will be headed to Washington DC for 3 days for a Youth Summer Summit along with other Virginia youth leaders who are working hard to overcome their own disabilities. She will get to network with the other youth, meet with legislators and tour the Newseum (www.newseum.org).  From the letter -"They will meet to identify ways to become better advocates and lead more self-determined lives."

This is an all expenses paid trip! They even give parents a stipend to provide transportation, etc. As you can imagine, Daniela is over the moon with joy! I will let her give you her own take on this, but wanted to give you a little more detail in advance.

Her Dad and I are so thrilled for her. This year has been really stressful and intimidating for her. She has had to face down so many of her phobias and other fears to be where she is today. What a wonderful validation for all of her hard work for her to receive this honor!

A very happy mom,

Tina