DO-IT Scholar Profile: Anita

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SPEAKER: DO-IT Scholar
Profile: Anita.

For more than 30 years,
the University

of Washington's Disabilities,
Opportunities, Internetworking,

and Technology Center,
also known as DO-IT,

has hosted programs to
promote equal access

within challenging
post-secondary programs

and careers.

Some projects work
directly with students,

such as DO-IT Scholars.

This video features a
DO-IT Scholar named Anita.

ANITA: My name is Anita, and
I was a DO-IT Scholar in 2014.

Part of why I applied was
because my mother thought

it was a good idea,
but then, also it was

a chance to be in a
community of people that

were similar to me,
which had been something

I hadn't experienced a ton of.

It was essentially a
mini college experience

that I found very appealing,
and the social opportunity

to be with a group of
people that was like me.

So you knew that
you're socializing,

but your disability isn't
coming into the picture

as how you're making friends.

We had lectures about what
we could do for ourselves

and our future, and
advocating for ourselves,

and learning what we
could ask for in college.

I'm a slow reader.

I have dyslexia and
dysgraphia, and

I can't read that 25
pages in a single night.

So learning how to take
notes, and what software

I could use to make doing
those big assignments easier.

And then we got to go
down to the food court,

and decide what
meal we were going

to get, and pick our table,
and eat with our friends.

And it was a giant sense of
independence when you were like,

you have a meal card, and you get
to go decide from any

of the 10 options what you're
going to eat,

and then you're going to go find
your friends and share a meal.

When I was at DO-IT, I was able
to have friendships and build

friendships that were
solely based on my interests

as a person and not
based on my wheelchair

and how being disabled shaped
who I was or what I did.

I mean, I certainly wouldn't
have met the collection

of people I know now.

A lot of the people I know
from the disability community

I did meet through DO-IT, or
connected to DO-IT in some way.

It really did show me that,
maybe I do want to do college.

I think I had been very much
like, ah, I don't need college.

I'm fine.

Who wants to do that?

I had nearly no
interest of college

prior to my junior
year of high school.

And then I had been
very unsure of what

my success rate at
college could be,

because academics
are hard for me.

The physical terrain of the
campus is difficult for me.

And so I kind of learned what
to look for in a college.

I learned that I
could enjoy college,

and that maybe I did want to do
the dorm life, and the roommate,

and I could make it work.

DO-IT taught me college was
doable, I could be successful,

and that I could
have independence.

I absolutely love
being a teacher,

and it's all because
I went to college

and felt like I could
be successful there.

I think life without DO-IT
and college, [LAUGHS]

I would be sitting
on my mom's couch

and getting told to
get up off the couch.

I don't know what
I would do if

I couldn't do what I do
now, because what I do now

is the best job.

I love what I do.

I get to work with kids.

I learned that I could
be a teacher, even though

I'm in a wheelchair.

DO-IT was a really fun time.

And I learned, but
I also just had fun.

I made friends.

That social opportunity is
the thing that sticks with me

and makes me keep returning to
support DO-IT in different ways.

I still show up as
a mentor because

I remember how fun it was and the
relationships I built there.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SPEAKER: To learn about
how you can get involved,

or for more resources about
supporting students with

disabilities,
consult uw.edu/doit.

Copyright 2025,
University of Washington.

Permission is granted
to use this material

for non-commercial
purposes provided

the source is acknowledged.