Preparing for college is a stressful experience for everyone, but when you are disabled there are many more elements to juggle. 

A huge stressor for any potential college student is funding their degree. Everything about this process can feel daunting. All incoming freshmen are required to fill out mountains of paperwork. From the countless scholarship applications to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA.

After completing those and additional paperwork, I am fortunate enough to have assistance through various government agencies to fund my education. However there are downsides.

Because most of my funding for college could come from government agencies, the wait time is considerable. I could not even start the process of applying for these agencies until I turned 18. The complete wait time for applications to process takes six months. The issue with this is that it puts my approval date for funding in August. This is problematic because my school year starts on Wednesday, Aug. 16. All the financial paperwork needs to be finalized before classes start. This would give me approximately only two weeks to finalize financial aid and send it to my university of choice. Tight!

An able-bodied college student’s first concern may be finding a dorm at the college they have chosen. They want the one with the biggest bedroom or the best roommates. While I have similar concerns, I also have the burden of finding a dorm room with an accessible shower, room to put my essential equipment in, wide enough doorways to drive through, and countless other accessibility concerns. 

The next concern that is heavy on my mind is the issue of independence. Due to my disability, I have never experienced a great amount of independence so college is very overwhelming. The college I have chosen is over two hours away from my family. I feel conflicted because I am excited to become more independent but I have little to no experience living on my own or caring for myself. This makes the transition to full-time dorm living extremely jarring.

No matter how much you do or how many forms you fill out, we may never truly feel ready until the day we do it.