Leo
06-07-2003, 11:31 AM
June 7, 2003
Pursue your dreams, realize potential, quadriplegic advises
Special to The Clarion-Ledger
COLUMBUS - Seven years ago Emily Caroline Perkins' car hydroplaned, left the road, flipped once and left her paralyzed from the shoulders down.
This life-altering experience would have been a major setback for many - but not for Perkins, who recently graduated from Mississippi University for Women at the top of her class.
"I had always had a thirst for knowledge, and paralysis didn't change that."
She was voted Most Likely to Succeed her senior year of high school and ranked second in her 1994 Sulligent (Ala.) High School graduating class. She received a full-paid academic scholarship to Bevill State Community College in Fayette, Ala.
Shortly afterward, her life changed course when she was injured in a car accident.
"I asked Bevill State to please hold on to my scholarship until I could use it. I had never heard of voice software or van lifts or any other adaptive equipment that is available for quadriplegics, but I knew that there must be some way for me to continue my education," she said.
Perkins said it took her a year to get back to college with support of her mother, Mildred Pitts Perkins, and grandmother, Lennis Pitts.
"I began commuting to classes two or three days a week, taking whichever courses could work around their work schedules. The limitations associated with my injury were humbling, my emotional confusion was tiring, and I admit that I had certain bouts of depression which were more disabling than my spinal cord injury itself. But with a great deal of hard work and help from mother and grandmother, who turned hundreds and hundreds of pages for me, I was able to graduate summa cum laude from Bevill State in 1999."
At the time of her accident, Perkins was a pre-pharmacy major, but decided that a more practical field of study was best for her, as well as a commute to the closest college to her home in Sulligent.
"In this regard, I feel that my disability was a blessing in disguise, for I ended up at The W. I had always dreamed of studying Shakespeare and other types of literature, and so I followed my heart and enrolled in MUW's program in English," she said. "The past three years in the English program have been the most fulfilling of my life."
In her three years of study at The W, Perkins had four major surgeries to correct health problems.
"I had suggestions from people to take some time off or quit college completely. People in my life have asked me 'why I am bothering to attend college. You know you won't be able to work, don't you?' I don't listen to such nonsense," she said. "You simply can't let your setbacks rule your life. It has been difficult completing my coursework, but I don't think it is all comparable to the difficulty that some of my fellow English graduates have overcome. My friends who maintain families and jobs and still manage to excel in their courses amaze me."
Perkins said she is still overcoming her disability.
"It is a day-by-day process, but it gets easier as I become aware of my remaining abilities and learn to work around my limitations," she said. "You'd be amazed at what people with disabilities can accomplish. I have a quadriplegic friend who scuba dives."
She encourages anyone with a disability or difference of any kind to pursue his or her dreams.
Perkins plans to attend graduate school and eventually teach college English and do scholarly or creative writing.
Pursue your dreams, realize potential, quadriplegic advises
Special to The Clarion-Ledger
COLUMBUS - Seven years ago Emily Caroline Perkins' car hydroplaned, left the road, flipped once and left her paralyzed from the shoulders down.
This life-altering experience would have been a major setback for many - but not for Perkins, who recently graduated from Mississippi University for Women at the top of her class.
"I had always had a thirst for knowledge, and paralysis didn't change that."
She was voted Most Likely to Succeed her senior year of high school and ranked second in her 1994 Sulligent (Ala.) High School graduating class. She received a full-paid academic scholarship to Bevill State Community College in Fayette, Ala.
Shortly afterward, her life changed course when she was injured in a car accident.
"I asked Bevill State to please hold on to my scholarship until I could use it. I had never heard of voice software or van lifts or any other adaptive equipment that is available for quadriplegics, but I knew that there must be some way for me to continue my education," she said.
Perkins said it took her a year to get back to college with support of her mother, Mildred Pitts Perkins, and grandmother, Lennis Pitts.
"I began commuting to classes two or three days a week, taking whichever courses could work around their work schedules. The limitations associated with my injury were humbling, my emotional confusion was tiring, and I admit that I had certain bouts of depression which were more disabling than my spinal cord injury itself. But with a great deal of hard work and help from mother and grandmother, who turned hundreds and hundreds of pages for me, I was able to graduate summa cum laude from Bevill State in 1999."
At the time of her accident, Perkins was a pre-pharmacy major, but decided that a more practical field of study was best for her, as well as a commute to the closest college to her home in Sulligent.
"In this regard, I feel that my disability was a blessing in disguise, for I ended up at The W. I had always dreamed of studying Shakespeare and other types of literature, and so I followed my heart and enrolled in MUW's program in English," she said. "The past three years in the English program have been the most fulfilling of my life."
In her three years of study at The W, Perkins had four major surgeries to correct health problems.
"I had suggestions from people to take some time off or quit college completely. People in my life have asked me 'why I am bothering to attend college. You know you won't be able to work, don't you?' I don't listen to such nonsense," she said. "You simply can't let your setbacks rule your life. It has been difficult completing my coursework, but I don't think it is all comparable to the difficulty that some of my fellow English graduates have overcome. My friends who maintain families and jobs and still manage to excel in their courses amaze me."
Perkins said she is still overcoming her disability.
"It is a day-by-day process, but it gets easier as I become aware of my remaining abilities and learn to work around my limitations," she said. "You'd be amazed at what people with disabilities can accomplish. I have a quadriplegic friend who scuba dives."
She encourages anyone with a disability or difference of any kind to pursue his or her dreams.
Perkins plans to attend graduate school and eventually teach college English and do scholarly or creative writing.