Inside Voice – The Self-Advocate’s Perspective
“Growing Through Experience” by Tricia Lins
Hi, my name is Tricia Lins. I just moved to Langley from 100 Mile House. This was a big deal for me. Langley is a much bigger city than 100 Mile House. My life has changed a lot because of the move.
You might be wondering why I made such a big move. I followed my heart down here. I fell in love with someone and wanted to be nearer to them. I have a wish list, and meeting the right guy and moving down to the Lower Mainland was on it! Two down… lots more to go.
About two years ago, I was a very shy person, especially in front of people I didn’t know. I was working for Community Living British Columbia in 100 Mile House as a self-advocate project assistant. One of my duties was to work on a conference for self-advocates in the Interior Region. The conference was held in Vernon in October 2009. I was part of a working committee of self-advocates and we met for 18 months to plan and do the conference. It was an awesome experience but a hard one too. We had to work out a lot of details.
I decided I wanted to work on my shyness so I asked to present with my friend Mandy. That was scary but I was really glad I did it. We created a workshop about leadership and we had a lot of fun presenting to 42 people. Before that I wouldn’t have spoken in front of four people, so I really overcame my fear.
After that, my life really began to change. I was asked by the self-advocate group in Courtney/Comox to present a keynote for their one day conference. A keynote is kind of a speech you make at the conference to talk about something that has to do with the conference. That was another experience that was scary but wonderful. Then after that, I was invited to help out the Victoria self-advocate group to share my experiences in planning the Vernon conference. I worked as a consultant for that event and then my partner Sky and I did a workshop on leadership.
So when I moved from 100 Mile House, I had to leave my job which was the hardest thing to do. I loved my job and the people I worked with at CLBC.
I learned so much there. It was a hard decision to make. But the happiest day was when I learned that I could apply for another job at CLBC on the lower mainland. I did that and now I work at the Langley office and am now working on another conference for self advocates.
Lots of the wishes on my wish list have come true… What’s next? Skydiving anyone?
Inside Voice is published in each issue of The Citizen. If you are interested in writing for this column, please call Chris Rae at 1-877-660-2522, or e-mail editor@communitylivingbc.ca.
