Life has its ups and downs, but I have learned it is a lot like farming, and weather is a lot like learning disabilities (LD). Just as no one can change the weather, I can’t change my LD. But I have learned how to compensate.Ever since I can remember, school has been so difficult. I enjoyed school, but didn’t understand why I would study so hard and do so poorly on my schoolwork. I can remember my third grade teacher, Mrs. P, wanting so much to help me. She felt so bad for me, and shared with my parents that it was going to be a challenge to pass the state reading test. I could only read at a beginning second grade level, and my grammar skills were even worse. Mrs. P was so dedicated. We worked together before and after school for months, just as a farmer does during the planting season. It was hard, but like a good harvest, I passed that state test.
The next couple of years were frustrating. What was the matter with me? I would study and study, then do poorly on my school work and tests. I reached a point where I just wanted to give up. It wasn’t worth it. During that same time, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and our lives changed forever. I was so frustrated. How could life be so unfair?
| Cole Little, a 2012 Honorable Mention for the Allegra Ford Scholarship, has a passion for agriculture and describes his LD journey as a lot like farming: although he can't change his LD (just like farmers can't change bad weather), he has to learn how to compensate for his weaknesses and make the most of his strengths. |
That is when my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Tufts, began to fill me with the hope I needed to keep trying. She told me on the first day of class that this year was going to be a year of transition. The first thing she taught us was that in 15 years, no one was going to ask me what I made on the science test or what grades were on my report card. In 15 years, they would look at what kind of person I became and how I helped my neighbors and the community.
Mrs. Tufts was the first to suspect that I might have LD, and helped my family begin the process for testing. While she and my parents were relieved that the evaluation could uncover some new opportunities for me, I thought it was the last thing I wanted to do. Just dig me a hole and bury me in it. The last thing I wanted was to be teased about being in Special Ed.
That is when Mrs. Tufts told me that we were going to think about all the testing in a different way. My teachers would help me plow my fields and replant the seeds of learning. If I would trust her, she knew that some day I would have a great harvest. She was right! During my junior year, I was so proud when I earned the A/B honor roll each 6 weeks. I felt like a farmer when the weather has been just right all season, and has brought in a bumper crop.
Over the years, I noticed that all the help my Reading/English teachers have given me has made all the difference. Just as a farmer has to manage his fields along with the weather, my teachers have taught me how to use my strengths to make up for my weaknesses.
Each year, I am able to take my test orally and it makes a difference. The teachers review what we have learned each day and have me talk through the process and skills just to be sure I understand. Last year one of my classes had only seven students in it, so we could do our practice problems on the board and our teacher could check each step as we worked out the problems. This teacher also teaches at the local community college, and has advised that I enroll in her class over the summer—she knows that I can be successful in college-level math.
Outside of the classroom, I’ve been successful in a number of sports and agriculture-related extracurricular activities, including FFA and working for local farmers and ranchers. One of my passions is showing animals. It comes natural to me, and I love teaching younger kids how to improve their own skills. I like to take the time to help them the way my teachers have helped me. Even when they do better than I do at the show, it makes me feel good to know that I was able to help them be successful.
Just because the statistics or evidence suggests that something is not possible doesn’t mean that it is not achievable. Football predictions never picked our team to win district or even make it out of the first round of playoffs, but we did. I was told that my steer for the Texas State Fair would not have what it takes to make the sale, but I continued to work hard and made the sale. Looking at my struggles through school, many doubted I would graduate high school ready for college. But I’m doing just that. Hard work can pay off and prove others wrong.
All my life, my parents have taught me that if we love what we do and who we do it with, it will show in the quality of our work and the smile on our faces. My teachers knew what was necessary to make college possible, and were willing to help me. They have been great farmers, and have been so good to continue to plant seeds in me.
I know that I have what it takes to make it in college. It will be hard and I have already started visiting with college professors and the schools about the services they offer for students like me. I have learned how to compensate for my learning disabilities and understand that asking for help outside class time is something that I will need to do. When someone looks back at my educational career, I want them to say that I have made a bumper crop of my education harvest.