They say that life can change in a blink of an eye. In 1997 my snow globe of a life was picked up, shaken violently, and set back down...and now I waited for the snow to fall back down and settle where it was.
The car accident was a strange twist of fate that took me from a beautifully naïve teenage athlete, to something more unknown and vague. I no longer looked toward the future, because I could no longer see what would be foretold. My back was broken, leaving my spinal cord damaged to an irreversible level. Although not as devastatingly permanent, injuries ranging from road-rash, to collapsed lungs, to broken femurs took my attention away from what I had yet to face… my wheelchair bound future.
From that night on my world became a challenge….not in the sense of feeling burdened or defeated, quite the opposite in fact. This was a feeling of yearning for more. An instant transformation of drive and strength caused me to lift myself up into a wheelchair and I began to push.
First, I pushed to finish high school on time. I pushed to be considered a normal college student who didn’t need any special help. I pushed to independently live on my own. I pushed my way through the workforce. I pushed to swim again. I pushed to see the limitless potential that was inside of me all along.
College taught me to choose a life that I enjoyed, not always something that came easily to me. I chose to study science; I believe mostly due to what I learned while living in a hospital room. Science had never been a strength of mine, but all of the newfound knowledge I had burst into my brain and sang songs of innovation, analysis, and creativity that I had never known before. I still feel this same enthusiasm today and live to share it with those who will listen.
While at college I also found a new passion: coaching. Coaching gave me such a sense of pride and fulfillment. I became a coach only when my own swim team deemed me unable to participate as a swimmer anymore. My first step was to prove them wrong and remain the swimmer I had always been. I feel so fortunate to have had my coaching experiences. This truly is where I began to form academic philosophies and gain insight into children’s lives.
As with the falling snow in my now right-side-up snow globe, I fell into coaching my high school alma mater as well. It was wonderful to be back at the school, to be able to give back to the community that had once shown me so much love and support when I truly needed nothing more. Being a small part of the school, I began to understand what it truly meant to be a teacher. Before long, others had noticed my interest and passion for positively motivating and affecting kids’ lives and encouraged me to pursue a teaching career…I got my Master’s Degree in Education and have been teaching now for the past 3 years.
As I sit here in my office at 4:48pm awaiting my Junior Varsity girls’ practice and rehashing the day, I notice and absorb both visible love and intangible love: The colored pictures and notes from my students that I have strategically placed on my wall. The four kids that just left my office after being here for an hour. One to make up a quiz. One to ask about our final review. One to get chemistry help, although I am not her teacher and I don’t teach chemistry. One to chat about her school day and what she has finally decided for the 84th time to be when she grows up. It has been a good day The combination of all of these things shows me that I have the power to change lives, no matter where I sit
Photos: Top-Ryan helping to build a house in Paraguay
Middle- Ryan in the Tri-Way Triathlon
Bottom - Ryan swimming in the La Jolla Cove CAF Triathlon 2006
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