{"id":4370,"date":"2015-10-30T15:20:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T19:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=4370"},"modified":"2015-11-18T13:29:04","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T17:29:04","slug":"compass-keepers-club-marian-arlanza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/compass-keepers-club-marian-arlanza\/","title":{"rendered":"Compass Keepers Club: Marian Arlanza"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a flick of her wrist, Marian Arlanza tosses her long, brown hair from one side of her head to the other. She straightens her glasses. She gives a quick laugh, smiles and locks eyes \u2013 ready for her conversation to begin.<\/p>\n

You speak, asking her a question about her decision to come here – to come to Bayside High School.<\/p>\n

For the first time since meeting her, there is a second of hesitation.<\/p>\n

Arlanza\u2019s eyes don\u2019t meet yours.<\/p>\n

She turns her head ever so slightly \u2013 looking to her interpreter sitting just feet behind you.<\/p>\n

Silent, the interpreter\u2019s hands move purposefully through the air, punctuated by the turn of the hand or the exact point or curl of a finger.<\/p>\n

Arlanza\u2019s eyes are back \u2013 as is the smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I was going to be the only one hard of hearing (in the Health Sciences Academy),\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4160\"<\/a>Yet, the now high school junior did not let that dissuade her from not only coming to a brand new school, where she would know almost no one, but take part in the rigorous and demanding course load of the academy.<\/p>\n

Arlanza has a hearing impairment that requires an interpreter in each of her classes. As a student at Corporate Landing Middle School, Arlanza knew the transition to high school was going to be difficult \u2013 no matter which school she went to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been a struggle,\u201d she says. \u201cNormal hearing children are able to keep up with what the teacher is saying. I\u2019m always slow. It\u2019s difficult for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, as Arlanza talked with more people and saw she shared a common interest in the health sciences field, she knew the academy would be the way to challenge and improve herself.<\/p>\n

She is the first to admit her freshman year was a jolt \u2013 both personally and academically. Yet to find a circle of friends, and working to meet the expectations of her studies, Arlanza struggled.<\/p>\n

Yet, when the whispers of doubt crawl up to the high-schooler, reminding her of the extra hurdles she would have to overcome not being able to hear, Arlanza\u2019s approach is simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just ignore it,\u201d she says. \u201cI just pretend I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides, she also carries with her the advice of her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom, she keeps saying, \u2018Make your disability the best of your ability.\u2019 She means, don\u2019t let it limit you,\u201d Arlanza explains.<\/p>\n

Her approach has paid off.<\/p>\n

Arlanza has flourished at Bayside – finding her \u201ctrue friends,\u201d enjoying her studies and even thinking of pursuing a career in emergency medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Marian) works hard and does not allow her disability to slow her down.\u00a0 Other students do not recognize her as being any different,\u201d said Terry Mejia, academy coordinator for the Health Sciences Academy. \u201cShe is not shy.\u00a0She asks questions when she needs too.\u00a0She never expects special treatment.\u00a0 She does not let anything stop her from doing anything she wants to do.\u00a0\u201c<\/p>\n

If anything, Arlanza hopes her fellow students \u2013 those with disabilities or without \u2013 refuse to be held back from chasing their own dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cDare to be you,\u201d Arlanza says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be out there, you know? Don\u2019t say, \u2018I will let someone else do it.\u2019 You\u2019ve got to do it. I want people to feel empowerment in themselves. Show them what you\u2019ve go. You have to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

October is National Disability History and Awareness Month. For more information about the services for students with disabilities, visit vbschools.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a flick of her wrist, Marian Arlanza tosses her long, brown hair from one side of her head to the other. She straightens her glasses. She gives a quick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4370"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4444,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4370\/revisions\/4444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}