Sherry...

I started wanting to get my education. Without my diploma, I knew that I had missed something. I looked up “learn” in the yellow pages and started with a tutor from Laubach Literacy of Fredericton. I went through the books very quickly and went through an excellent CASP program with a fair amount of difficulty in math. I drove myself a twenty-mile distance . My tutor still came twice weekly to work with me during CASP. She’s offered to take me through university if I want to go. I took five years to do my upgrading. When I got my GED, I cried and cried.

At the Neil Squire CASP, it was the only group I was accepted in. I’ve never labelled myself as handicapped. I didn’t want to walk (in public) because someone might look at me. I learned to accept some disabilities. Others had the same hopes, dreams, and desires though they might not be able to communicate with you. The big highlight would be the people I met. When they sent me to Ottawa, I picked up a male friend, which really boosted me. People tell me that I am not the same person. I hold my head up now, which I didn’t do before. I don’t want them to remind me of what I was, because I don’t remember. I think, “What was I like? Was I that bad?” It’s my self-image, the mask I put on, of what I am.

I go to an Overcomers’ group on Monday night to work on my food program and my over-talking. From my brain surgery, a physiotherapist told me, “When they touch the human brain, it makes you over-talkative.” It bothered the other students; I know it did.

I was a recreation coordinator for Opal 3 for four summers while working on my GED. I’ve done some counselling at the Canadian Paraplegic Association. I am on the board of Laubach Literacy Fredericton and on the provincial board with the New Brunswick Coalition for Literacy. I can do basic office work and I did take two computer courses. I’d like to go to St. Thomas University in September, maybe, to study gerontology, about older people. My long-term goal is to have full-time employment, to look after myself financially. I may have to go through baby steps, by volunteering where I am. I am going to minister the gospel; that is my heart’s desire, but I need training and polishing. There’s going to be a lot of barriers up against me. I hope it’s not all physical!

-Taken from a taped interview of Sherry McMillan, Fredericton NB