Student voices: How I beat the odds

A recent high school graduate discusses the personal fortitude and system supports that helped him surmount learning obstacles to earn a coveted high school diploma.

Note: James Sullivan received a 2013 Overcoming the Odds award from Student Advocacy, Inc., a nonprofit agency in Westchester County, N.Y., which honors students who make their education a priority despite significant obstacles.

When Sullivan entered high school, he did not expect to graduate or go on to college. Since he was reading far below his grade level, he was sure that he wouldn’t take the Regents exams, which are required to earn a high school diploma in New York. His speech and language disability seemed an insurmountable obstacle. “Things in my head didn’t always come out the way I wanted them to,” he said.

But Sullivan has surprised even himself.

He received a 94 on the Regents history exam, a New York state-endorsed high school diploma called a Regents diploma, and was accepted into college — all strong evidence of his success. After Sullivan learned new strategies to control his test anxiety, he went on to master self-advocacy. With support from a teacher at his high school, he learned how to read his own Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Beginning in 9th grade, he attended the legally required meeting to review and plan special education services. By his senior year, he was essentially chairing that meeting. Sullivan was able to use his knowledge of his own strengths and needs to advocate for the supports that made sense to him. He was able to secure extended time on examinations and personalized assistance to help with specific classroom assignments. With sound knowledge of his IEP, he also became an effective advocate for himself, diplomatically ensuring that all teachers provided the services and accommodations required by his IEP.

The Student Advocacy group recognized Sullivan with an Overcoming the Odds Award to honor his determination to earn a Regents diploma as well as his outstanding efforts to advocate for himself. What follows is Sullivan’s story, in his own words.

“You may begin your exam.”

Those were the words I heard as I turned the page to begin my journey through my own struggle with test anxiety. During the exam, I felt the room getting smaller. My heart started to race. As I read the question over again, it made even less sense. This is what it was like for me when I had to sit for the New York Earth Science Regents exam, one of the state exams required to earn a high school diploma in New York state. When I got back the results from that Regents exam, I learned I had failed but that I could take it over again in August. My mother urged me to try again. “Jimmy, you can do this,” she said. “You just have to work harder than everybody else because of your disability.”

I am considered to be speech and language disabled. With this disability, I have to work extra hard in a subject at school that my peers would pick up quickly. This disability had played a major role in my life since I was in elementary school. With that being said, my learning habits are a lot like others, but I need more time than others to memorize the same material. For instance, I will make flash cards, and, as I write them, I say them out loud and keep writing them over and over again until I remember them.

The clock is ticking

My football coach once said to me, “Every time you step on that field, that clock is ticking. You cannot take one second for granted.” My coach must have said that a million times a week, and it really did not make sense to me until I failed my first Regents exam. The new field that I was stepping on was high school, which included all the tests that I would have to pass to graduate. I couldn’t take one second for granted. I still had a second chance to prove that all the people who doubted me were wrong. My high school effort had to be to the best of my ability. I had to believe that I could succeed and defeat anything that came in my way — anything that tried to stop me from achieving that goal. When I tell people about how my mother and my coach inspired me, some have asked, “Two people, is that what really motivated you?” My reply is, “No. It was all the people who doubted me.”

I don’t have time to take one second for granted.

That summer, between my freshman and sophomore year, I woke up early every day and went to school to do two things. One was to study harder; the other was to work on coping skills to help reduce my test anxiety, which was drastically improved when I retook the exam in August. My test-taking strategies included completing easier questions first, so that I don’t get hung up on the hard ones, then coming back to them later; taking a breath to keep calm; and coming into the exam better prepared by studying and memorizing material.

I failed the earth science test the first time, but passed it the next time. When I got around to taking the Regents exam for U.S. history, I received a 94%. In June, I graduated with a Regents diploma. (A Regents diploma requires passing tests in five subject areas — global history, U.S. history, English, math, and science — with a score of 65% or better.) This fall, I enrolled at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx. As I prepared for college, I knew I must have complete and total focus to do well in each class. I also know that whatever curve ball will be thrown at me, I will manage to complete the work.

I want to become a special education teacher. I strongly believe that every kid has a different learning style. I want to become a teacher because I want kids to know that it is OK to be different. In my class, they will not be afraid of being made fun of because they are not smarter than another person.

Always an answer

I have a disability, but I don’t like to use that word. To me, disability is a name to call someone who cannot learn on his or her own. This “disability” that I have is nothing more than a setback on my life goals. So I’ll continue to follow my coach’s advice and work even harder. I don’t have time to take one second for granted. As for the disability, it will not hold me back on life goals. To all the other kids who have disabilities, all I can say is that in life there will be doubt, but you have to pick yourself back up and try again. You might not succeed the first couple of times, but, in the end, there will always be an answer.

Last spring, I received the Overcoming the Odds Award from Student Advocacy. I never felt so at peace: I had conquered something that many others would not even try to conquer. When I spoke at the awards dinner, I made it clear that even though there are doubts, I will always triumph through the odds.

Citation: Sullivan, J. (2013). Student voices: How I beat the odds. Phi Delta Kappan, 95 (2), 74-75.