E-Community Activity: Being Flexible

Send this message to the e-community of protégés and mentors.

Subject: Being flexible

Some adversities in life are beyond your capacity to change no matter how hard you try or how motivated you may be. As pointed out by a college student who is blind:

• The tough part about being disabled and keeping a positive attitude is to realize that there are things that you want to do that you will probably never get to do. This can take a toll on the mind and damage the self-esteem and positive attitude. The big issue for me when I turned sixteen, and even now, was that I could not drive because of my visual disability.

Once you have set a goal, it is important to be flexible regarding possible modifications to the goal itself as well as finding a path to reach the goal. Below, a person who is blind describes a situation where he needed to be flexible when starting a new job.

• I have had to make a lot of adjustments while getting settled into my new job as a technical support specialist. This job requires a lot of flexibility as to when the employees work and when they have time off. In my case, I have had also to make certain adjustments regarding transportation and equipment. For example, I was going to take the train to a nearby station and then catch a bus to my work area. The problem is that the bus lets off on the wrong side of the building and I would have to walk through a loading dock where there are a lot of trucks parked. Having to get around all those vehicles would make it difficult to stay on the path. I would need help from a sighted person. Instead, I resorted to using a shuttle provided by the company. It picks me up at the rail station and drops me off at the building where I work.

Give an example of a situation where you should be flexible and one where you should not.