31 Days of SMA: Sory Rivera

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by Kevin Schaefer |

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Day 15 of 31 Days SMA Topic: Education and SMA This is Sory Rivera’s (@soryr ) story: As a kid, I was never a fan of school or learning. I found it useless as I was living with SMA. I never believed I would amount to anything “great” anyway. I felt that my body was a ticking timebomb that could go off at any time. I needed to use what abilities I had left wisely and have fun in life while I still could. So, I spent most of my 20’s living life how I wanted, having fun, and being reckless. Education had no room in my equation. Well now I am in my 30’s and thanks to the miracle of modern science, my timebomb never detonated. In 2019, after years of having fun and spending my time doing all the things I wanted to do, I started to feel like I had no real purpose. The fun had run out, and I wanted more out of life. I went back to school in the spring semester of 2020 to pursue a degree in Public Relations. I was excited about my new venture and was more prepared than I had ever been, but I still struggled at first. My anxiety was always at the max level due to dealing with the city paratransit, getting used to going to classes, assignments, tests, and deadlines. I was also having wheel bearing issues in my powerchair. On most days at school it was pouring down with freezing rain. This was not fun, and thoughts of quitting crossed my mind often. But as the days passed, I learned how to deal with the stress, and I began to acclimate. Going to school gave me a reason to get out of the house. I had people to talk to, and what I enjoyed the most was the abundance of knowledge I was gaining. Being a student with SMA gets tough sometimes. Most days I am either tired or in pain, but I am determined to never stop. I am expecting a great thing for me in the future. I’m not certain what it will be or in what shape or form it will come to me, but I trust that it’s on its way. In the meantime, I will learn, study, and obtain my degree. I want to make sure that I am prepared for when my grand moment finally arrives. I am no longer allowing my SMA to get in my way! #SMAAwarenessMonth #SMAAwareness #31daysofsma2020

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