Most of us have stories about someone who came into our life at just the right time and made a big difference.
For me, that person not only gave me a break that changed my life, but her influence also kept on giving over a very long time.
Ten years following the onset of my SCI and paralysis, I decided to return to graduate studies and get a master’s degree. I had been scraping along with intermittent minimum wage jobs with a B.A., and the future looked foreboding. I had not been able to teach at college due to outright discrimination. Wheelchair users were not allowed to teach in all of Los Angeles County at that time. Judy Heumann had not yet sued New York state to expose the blatant bias. Then in 1975, I applied to the master of fine arts program in creative writing at the University of Oregon and was accepted, but I couldn’t find an accessible, affordable apartment for my wife-to-be, our dog and two cats, and me in my wheelchair. So I enrolled instead at a smaller state college a short drive from where we lived in an old rental house.
Two years of study and work-study employment went by smoothly; I got valuable experience as a T.A. in both English and Film Studies, and I sent out letters introducing myself to about 30 different community colleges in the Western United States inquiring about employment. I did not get one promising lead until I received a call from the director of a new Developmental Education program at Portland Community College. As it happens, my wife and I were planning a trip to Canada, so l made an appointment to meet with the director on our way back to our home in southern Oregon.
The director was a strong, impressive, take-charge woman. When I entered her office, she was reviewing my portfolio. She greeted me warmly and got right to the point, asking questions about my personal life, my plans, my expectations and so forth, then explained what she was looking for in an employee. When we reached the end of the brief interview, I was certain she would tell me she would consider everything and let me know. Instead, she looked me straight in the eye and said, smiling, “When would you like to start?”