Disability and the Theatrical Event :: College Admissions Essays

Disability and the Theatrical Event    When I was 10, I was hit by a car. Actually, I was 9 years old, got hit by the car and turned 10 in hospital.    I was walking home with my friends after school. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Someone was driving. Someone didn't look. Someone was careful but not careful enough. They ran. I waited. Not in the right place. And I was hit. Just like that. A piece of glass from the headlight pierced my skull and entered my brain. My brain was damaged. They call it ABI. Aquired Brain Injury. I was meant to die.    My fist did come down from my chin. I learnt relaxation processes by living and practicing Yoga in an Ashram. Yoga also helped me learn to walk with a reduced limp. I toned and strengthened my body through Yogic practice. I recommend Yoga to anyone who wants to work with his or her body. And I discovered theatre.    In the theatre I was magical. I could create a world where I was good enough. Moving my body to music was empowering. And when I feel empowered, disability and difference do not matter.    I become one with the music. I transcend to a plane of just . . . being. In drama my difference doesn't have to matter. But -- if I want it to matter -- my difference is treasured. I can use my difference to my advantage to say something to the world. I decided to help others through counseling work and began a Social Work degree at the University of South Australia. I graduated from my social work degree in 2000.    I have finally realized that only by celebrating disability and difference -- -- only by making our disability visible -- can we get out of the trap. We reconstruct ourselves through theatre and make choices. We create new opportunities. We turn the situation around.