This is the second post of a three-part blog series. Be sure to check out part one, ARC, if you missed it!

Well, God had planted a seed for me years earlier! Remember how I told you all about the one year certificate program to become a habilitation assistant. That was my answer!

I was really excited to be going back to college with the real potential of graduating and getting a job!  It wasn’t like my first time at college, running away from housework! This time, I had a course to study that fit my skills and abilities and it led to the positive outcome of landing a job I could really do!

I remember going for a test to see if my reading was on college level. It took me all afternoon and into the early evening because I had to read pieces of text and then answer questions about what I read. It took me hours because I’m a slow reader and I wanted to make sure I comprehended it since I was going to be asked questions on what I read!  I think I remember having to be there at 1:00 pm and calling for a ride home between 6:30 – 700 pm.  I WAS VERY TIRED AND HUNGRY!  That long and tiresome day paid off because my reading was at college level and a couple weeks later I got the phone call that I was accepted into the program!!!! (THIS STATEMENT DEFINITELY REQUIRES FOUR!!!!) 

I, Cate Ticknor, was accepted into a college program!  I remember staying home one night, while my mom and sisters went out, and getting that proud and puffed up feeling for staying home to work on some entrance papers for college!

The first semester was all about what makes a good habilitation assistant and gearing up for our internships.  It was really fun and interesting. It was also very easy to find myself worrying about an internship, due to the fact that I don’t like change and brand new places with all new people to get to know (or maybe new people to get to know me and what I am capable of).  My heart leapt for joy to find out that my first internship was to be at ARC East!  It would be a new building and new people but I was at least familiar with the ARC program. 

I will never forget my first couple of days or weeks there (it seemed like weeks!) All I did was hand shapes to this woman (who was very cute and sweet, I loved her, she was great! I had no qualms about working with her!) to put into a box. When the box was filled up, we would dump them out and start all over again! 

Believe me it made for a very long and tiring day!  Occasionally, I would get to do some other little things but nothing very meaningful!  I would tell my family and people at school about it, but nothing changed!  I felt like the instructors in the room, where I was assigned to work, weren’t taking me seriously! My heart sank!  Here I was going to school, doing the work and nobody was taking me seriously!  I waited a couple weeks to see if anything would change and if not, then I was going to take matters into my own hands! 

Well, things didn’t change so I took matters into my own hands!  I went to talk to the person who was overseeing my internship at ARC East and told her that I needed some more meaningful things to do!  I was going crazy!  She arranged for me to help in an area on the workshop floor.  I was overjoyed and thrilled!

The first day out on the floor was a total disaster!  Neither of the supervisors hardly said a single word to me!  Oh no, more people that didn’t take me seriously!  I broke down and cried and called for my ride to come and take me home, which was a big NO-NO, because I was training to be the one who was supposed to help others keep control! 

Thankfully, they didn’t give up on me! I went back the next Monday, and everything was 360 degrees different! I was to assist a lovely woman with her job!  I think I remember that she only had use of one of her hands, so I was like her second hand!  We packed things along a conveyor belt and when we weren’t needed to do a job, we would color and just hang out together.  It was so fulfilling, fun and meaningful!  The woman I worked with was totally awesome, great and wonderful!  We got along so well and really enjoyed one another’s company!  The supervisors in that area actually became good friends of mine and they even came to my graduation! That really made me feel good!

For my next and final internship, you will never believe where I ended up! Back at my good ol’ ARC South, where I had spent 14 years as a participant.  I was now going back as an intern!  I would like to take a little time to tell you about a totally amazing, awesome, great and wonderful friend.  I would be doing a big disservice to her if I failed to mention the big part she played in my life while I was with ARC Industries, both when I was a participant and then when I ended up as staff!  On the days when I needed to “get it all off my chest and unload” or I’d curl up into a little ball and disintegrate into a billion little pieces- she was always there for me! For the other thousand things she did for me I want to say a big THANK YOU!!!!  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!  She ended up being my supervisor when I was doing my internship at ARC South!  She was one of the first people who took me seriously right from the start. She helped me work out a schedule and everything else!  She was TOTALLY AWESOME!  She told me later that she was a little concerned about how I would do because, when I was at ARC South as a participant, I was quite a “Chatty Cathy” and social butterfly!  The last day, during the final review of my internship, she told me that she was really impressed with the way I stayed focused and worked!  May I tell you one more thing and then I promise I’ll quit bragging!  I was also told during my final review that I had set a new high standard for other interns! 

Well, I made it to graduation, and I graduated Magna Cum Laude!  JUST KIDDING! The only way I’d ever get close to Magna Cum Laude is by pretending to and writing it in my own blog! Another fun thing that attending Columbus State allowed me to do is take the COTA Bus downtown.  I like being independent and I loved being able to go exploring all over downtown Columbus after school! 

Now, with my schooling and training behind me, it was on to the next leg of the journey! I was excited, a little scared and eager to see where the road would lead me next!