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Susie D'Mello

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My Experience Working as a Connect Intern
By Susie D’Mello

When I first got this internship with the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition I didn’t have the slightest clue what was in store for me. I was apprehensive as I had never been involved in a disability rights group before and I didn’t want to use the wrong words.  It turned out that I had nothing to worry about; the people I worked with were incredibly understanding and I had an amazing time spreading the word about Connect. Over the past 2 months I have encountered many new experiences and learned a ton about disability pride and history.

 When I first began this internship I had no idea how things were going to turn out. We were given a great deal of freedom, which I had never experienced in a job before. There was nobody watching me to make sure I did everything correctly. I had to learn a lot of problem solving and communication skills during this time because I was mostly working by myself from my home and I couldn’t just turn and ask my coworker a question. I started off thinking that nobody would ever want to meet with me about Connect, I called and left countless voicemails until everything snapped into place, people began returning my calls and the meetings began to trickle in. I was extremely nervous about my first meeting and wrote everything down so that I wouldn’t forget, but it turned out that the schools were very interested and that I didn’t need to read off of a script because I knew how much Connect would help college students with disabilities. The individuals I met with were all extremely enthusiastic about Connect and we would go on and on about why it was so important to have such a network and to develop leadership amongst young people with disabilities. 

All of the interns would meet on every other Wednesday at the MDRC office in East Lansing as a team to discuss our experiences, successes, failures, and we all helped each other to find the best and worst ways of doing things. We would discuss disability issues and the history of the movement. Before this internship I never realized how powerful the movement has been and the things I have taken for granted which disabled people in the past had to fight for. It's amazing how people can make an impact when they join forces and work together. We also learned a lot about language at our meetings. I learned that some of the words such as handicapped which any people used to and still use today have awful debilitating meanings and I understand why they should not be used.

One of the most amazing parts of this internship was the team itself. We were so far away, yet so close at the same time. We all hit it off really well at the retreat in June and I really enjoy all of their company. We are not only colleagues, but also friends and I hope to keep in touch with them all. 

This week I returned to my campus and realized that I’ve become much more attentive about things such as the height of electric plugs, doorknobs, and light switches. I would never have noticed any of these things before this experience.        

This job taught me a great deal about disability culture and a lot about myself.   It was refreshing to be able to see all of our efforts turn into successes and to be surrounded by people who understand what it's like to have a disability.  I have no doubt in my mind that meeting with all those people is going to spark fires in many disabled college students.  We have planted the seeds and soon new leaders are going to sprout up all over Michigan.

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