by Cheyenne Goos (Victoria)
I do my best to keep a positive mindset. For me, it’s about having choices and independence, like being able to work and swim. It’s also about having friends and supportive parents who believe in me.
I’m from Victoria where I live in my own place and work full time. I started to think about moving out when I was 18. I wanted to be independent and have my own rules. I live in a suite in the house of my respite family.
I make enough money to pay my rent and bills and put some savings away too, so I can travel if I want to.
I’m a dishwasher at St. Michael’s private high school. I’ve worked there for seven years. It gets me out of the house. I have lots of friends at work.
In my free time I swim with Spirit Orcas and Special Olympics. Spirit Orcas is an ocean swimming team. I came up with the name. There are seven people on the team right now. We swam the ocean in Bella Bella and are still planning on swimming in the English Channel.
I grew up in a supportive and loving home with my mom and dad. My mom was always there for me. She did all the important parts of what a parent does. My dad was there for me too. He helped with different things like budgeting and teaching me about fixing cars.
I can’t really remember when I realized my mom had a disability. She was just a normal mom to me. It wasn’t about disability in our house. It was about helping each other and finding others who could help us figure out what we needed.
Some people just think differently. Like for me, sometimes I need help learning and understanding new words. My tongue gets twisted sometimes. My disability just means I need some help learning new skills.
Sometimes I feel shy and need help getting into my comfort zone. It helps when someone I trust comes with me at first so I can feel confident, then I’m good on my own.
I look forward to continue swimming and to keep on working at my job. I may even try a second job one day.
I definitely want to stay living on my own and maybe with my boyfriend one day. I think about having kids. But not until after I get married. I’m not in any hurry for that.
Right now, I just want to live my life to the fullest.
