In December 2023, I broke my ankle by slipping on the ice walking into work. I ended up being on crutches until the end of January, so I had to go to school on crutches and do my first week at Harwin on crutches as well. I was lucky to have great people in my cohort who offered to drive me to and from school every day during this time. with the annoyance of having a broken ankle aside and having the be on crutches, it brought up a more important topic of conversation for me which was the number of areas that were not overly accessible for people with physical disabilities. I never really gave much thought about how difficult it can be for people to move from place to place if they have a physical disability, but after my experience on crutches I now pay attention to it much more and realize that many place are not accessible for many people. This is an important issue that I know is getting some more attention but needs to be taken more seriously. I was lucky enough to have people drive me to the front doors of most buildings, but I can’t imagine not having anyone for assistance. It made me realize how much I would have to rely on people to get me through the day and how everyday activities that I have always been used to would never be the same. The lesson I took from this happening to me is to make sure I have continuous gratitude for having a healthy functioning body and to realize that at any time throughout life it can be taken away in an instant. I try to make sure to treat my body with respect and to be thankful I am healthy and fully functioning and able to stay active. Something else I took away from this is the need for accessible spaces in our community and in our schools and the importance that we should be putting on this as educators and as a community.
Even though this was a difficult time for me, I do look back at it fondly. I was able to slow down a bit over the Christmas break and spend a lot of time with the people that I love and hold close to my heart. It really allowed me to form deeper relationships with the people in my life, old and new. I remember when this happened, my dad said to me that maybe this is a sign that I need to slow down. I think about this often and looking back I really believe he was right. My plan was to work a lot over Christmas, even on Christmas Day, and if this didn’t happen to me, I wouldn’t have been able to create the memories I now have and the moments that I will cherish forever. I believe that trying to see the positive side of things is so important in this life. It is so easy to resort to looking at the negative, and I have definitely been guilty of this in many instances. But there really is so much to be grateful for, and taking the time to recognize and reflect on this is something I think everyone should practice more often.