![\"West](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_5622.jpg\")
<\/a>West began with something they have in common.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave any of you been new to a school?\u201d West asked the students.<\/p>\n
Almost everyone raised their hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you feel?\u201d asked West.<\/p>\n
Shy. Nervous. Scared.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMe, too,\u201d agreed West. \u201cI was in the fourth grade when I started at a new school. I was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n She also was the only student in a wheelchair. This, she acknowledged, made her different.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew I looked different. I knew I talked different. I was left out a lot because I was different,\u201d recalled West. \u201cI had to sit on the side a lot. I was afraid I wouldn\u2019t make any friends.\u201d<\/p>\n That was until a classmate changed her life.<\/p>\n \u201cGuess what happened one day? A\u00a0little girl came up and asked me if I wanted to play. And you know what happened?\u201d West asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d replied the fifth-graders in unison, hanging on every word.<\/p>\n \u201cWe played,\u201d responded West simply. \u201cShe figured out how to get me on the slide, how to play catch. How do you think I felt?\u201d West asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHappy,\u201d said the audience.<\/p>\n \u201cI was happy. I had friends,\u201d affirmed West, only beginning to get students to consider how their actions impact others, for better or worse.<\/p>\n The friendship with her fourth-grade classmate has been lifelong. West shared she was in the friend\u2019s wedding many years later and recently held her new baby.<\/p>\n \u201cThat little girl changed my life,\u201d said West. \u201cAnd you know what? I changed hers as well. Now she works with kids with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was your age when she changed my life. Look at what you can do!\u201d encouraged West.<\/p>\n The positive experience with her elementary school classmate did not prevent others from perceiving West\u2019s difficulty speaking and moving as barriers to her aspirations to graduate from college and become a teacher.<\/p>\n West told the story of a high school teacher who said she couldn\u2019t become a teacher.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t speak correctly,\u201d West recalled her teacher saying. \u201cYou can\u2019t pick up kids if they fall down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be a teacher. I love kids. I adore you guys,\u201d West said to the students. \u201cTo have someone tell you can\u2019t do something you want to do is tough. I was sad.\u201d<\/p>\n Then there was the college professor who told West she couldn\u2019t take the final class she needed in order to graduate \u2013 public speaking.<\/p>\n \u201cI told the teacher I need a little extra time because it takes me a bit longer. She told me I couldn\u2019t take the class,\u201d said West.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t I take this class?\u201d West asked her professor. \u201cShe said, \u2018because you can\u2019t talk.\u2019 \u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m talking to you right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n West told students she found a different teacher and earned an A in the class.<\/p>\n \u201cShe didn\u2019t give me an A. I worked hard,\u201d West said, reminding students of the importance of work ethic.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I graduated. Isn\u2019t that cool?\u201d asked a smiling West to applause from students and other guests.<\/p>\n