Newspaper Page Text
16A
April 28, 2005
A personal journey: From special
Ed to college graduation
By lONATHAB DAVIS
A M lexhlt
WASHINGTON
(NNPA) - In a couple of
weeks, I will be taking the
most important walk of
my life. I will be graduat
ing from Howard Univer
sity with a degree in print
journalism, with a minor
in sports administration.
However, there was a time
when this dream seemed
very far away.
At the age of two, I sut
tered from a serious lan
guage disorder that aftect
ed the pragmatic, seman
tic and syntactic compo
nents of my communica
tion development. I was
only able to demonstrate
very limited ability to
code communicative
interactions, while being
able to respond to other
verbalizations. Basically, 1
had a hard time trying to
formulate words on my
own and I would con
stantly repeat everything
that I would hear on the
television set to what my
own mother, Toya Davis,
would communicate to
me.
Despite a doctor telling
my mother that [ would
grow out of it, she had me
evaluated by the Union
dale School District. She
then proceeded to enroll
me in a special education
pre-school called The
School for Language and
Communication Develop
ment in North Bellmore.
At the time, | really did
not know how serious this
condition was. Being a
kid, T always thought I
was going to school like
any other kid during this
age of my life. However,
my mother knew that |
had a problem and it
needed to be solved.
At SLCD, where I was
classified as speech
impaired, I underwent
intensive speech and lan
guage therapy which con
sisted of linking pictures,
sounds and music to
words. | also learned to
sound out my own name
to a beat.
While I had difficulty
communicating with oth
ers, that did not stop me
from trying to make
friends. During my time
at SLCD, I was able to be
good friends with a kid by
the name of Matthew
West. During play time
we would always commu
nicate with each other. We
enjoyed each other’s com
pany because we did not
see ourselves as two kids
who had speaking prob
lems or the fact that he
was Caucasian and | was
African-American. We
were two kids that loved
to play and we both loved
this superhero cartoon
show Voltron.
After doing two years of
preschool and one year of
kindergarten at SLCD, 1|
moved on to the first
grade at Cornelius Court
Elementary School in
Uniondale. Each day, |
would be pulled out from
my first grade class and |
would spend some time
with a speech teacher try
ing to get better at my
grammar.
After my second grade
year at Smith Street Ele
mentary School in Union
dale N.Y., school officials
were convinced that |
should be put in main
stream classes. So | then
attended Grand Avenue
Elementary School as a
second grader. It was
funny at the time that I
was repeating second
grade again, but my mom
wanted to make sure that |
was on solid ground in my
transition to a new sur
rounding.
From second to fifth
grade I still was taken out
of regular class for extra
review work and speech
therapy. During that time
frame, my speech teacher
was Mrs. Shelly Novick.
She was someone that |
really respected because
she always spoke to me
with this confidence that |
can do anything that I put
my mind to.
She made me realize that
as well as some of my
other speech classmates
such as Karmel Peterson, a
close triend who graduat
ed with me from Union
dale High School in 2000.
At the end of fifth
grade, 1 was declassified
and for the first time was
able to attend school
without special help. |
would graduate in 1994
from Grand Avenue Ele
mentary School as a mem
ber of the 6th grade class.
During my years at
Lawrence Road Junior
High School (LR), 1 did
well 1n academics, receiv
ing the National Junior
Honors Society Award
and rhe National Physical
Fitness Award.
Fast forward five years.
After graduation from
Uniondale High School, |
entered another important
part of my life — college.
While a lot of my high
school classmates went off
to four-year institutions, |
started off the next chap
ter of my education at
Nassau Community Col
lege (NCC). My first
semester was tough; I only
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managed a 2.5 GPA. Four
semesters later, | managed
to graduate with a 2.91 in
2002 with a degree in
media.
While I had academic
success, it was the other
things that I did that real
ly made me proud of my
NCC experience. | was a
part of the school track
and field team and played
a very important role in
helping turned the pro
gram. In my freshmen
year alone, our team was
runner-up in both our
cross-country and outdoor
track and field champi
onships. In my sopho
more year, | helped the
Nassau Lions cross win its
first cross-country cham
pionship in nearly 10
years. After graduating
from NCC in 2002, 1
enrolled in Howard Uni
versity and only added to
my resume of success. |
am a sports writer and
campus writer for the No.
1-rated college newspaper
in the country and the
first black college paper to
go daily The Hilltop. I am
a Chapel Assistant/Chapel
Usher in Howard Univer
sity’s Andrew Rankin
Memorial Chapel. 1 have
also been a radio personal
ity for the Howard Uni
versity student radio sta
tion WHBC 830 AM for
the past three years. | am a
writer/editor for the Lead
ership section of the
Howard University Stu
dent Association newslet
ter Redefined.
I have come a long way.
Almost 21 years ago, | was
a kid who was unable to
speak or communicate in
any matter. Now, | am on
the verge of graduating
from one of the most pres
tigious institutions in
America. It's amazing
what can happen when
you don't give up on your
self. If it had not been for
my parents, a strong faith
in myself and dedicated
people in my life, I would
not be where I am today.
It has been a long journey,
but the fun is just begin
ning.
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