Winning Choices is a character education program in Montgomery County public schools. If you know anything about my volunteer experiences while a student at Virginia Tech, you would know that I really enjoy volunteering with elementary school-age children and being an example for them in their everyday lives as well as helping them academically.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from Shane, one of the real workhorses behind Actively Caring, and after a discussion with him I’m happy to announce that I have officially accepted an offer to be a keynote speaker during the “Winning Choices” week that is going to happen in the schools in the fall.

The Actively Caring for People program here at Virginia Tech recently received a $20,000 grant from the American Psychological Foundation. This is going to enable us to speak to two schools in the fall into schools in the spring in the local area and hopefully get the program started in the school. Winning Choices is part of the character education week in October and I’ll be able to speak to them, kind of a premature version of the TED talk I’ll be giving to the general public, in November, as well as a teaser of the keynote address I’ll be giving at the Campus Ambassador Conference in November.

People have always told me that I should take an interest in being a motivational speaker and really being able to communicate my spirit in my storage other people, and I’m really excited because everything is falling into place the seems like it’s just the beginning of great things to come.

Not only am I excited about these opportunities because I’m being able to get my name out there, but also because I am  going to be speaking to people who are so interested in what I am as well. I love educating little kids on disabliities, and showing them that just because you have one doesn’t mean that you are any different, in a bad way, than anyone else.  I think that if we can start by educating youth, then the prejudices, judgmental stares, and lack of knowledge that most able-bodied people have about those with disabilities, eventually will go away.

Fingers crossed.