Bill Milzarski was sifting through applications from disabled high school students who hoped to be placed in his leadership forum. What one student with a severe learning disability wrote went straight to his heart.
The student's application read: "I want to make a difference."
"I knew he had to come," said Milzarski, a rights representative on the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns. "If you can find a teenager who is going to say 'I know I have problems, but I want to make a difference. I want to go out and help people,' that's just a profound statement from someone so young."
Thirty-one disabled students with the same desire to make a difference gathered Sunday through today at Wilson Hall on campus for the eighth annual Michigan Youth Leadership Forum.
Throughout the week, the students learned about disability rights and laws, spent a day at the Capitol and participated in other leadership building activities.
The program provides the students an opportunity to learn from the 12 adult mentors who also have disabilities and lead successful lives, Milzarski said.
Amanda Wood, a junior at Haslett High School, participated in the forum and said she was pleasantly surprised to learn her mentors have experienced some of the same hardships she has.
"I wasn't sure there would actually be staff who had disabilities similar to ours, or like us," said Wood, a 16-year-old from East Lansing. "They can help you cope through your situation, and they can kind of relate to you. They sort of know what you're going through."
Wood has a condition called hydrocephalus, which causes excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain. She said it causes her to struggle at subjects like math, where she has to work things out step-by-step on paper.
"(My mind) is really good at processing stuff, but before I can put stuff on paper, my mind sort of likes to organize it all," she said.
What she learned this week is going to help her ask for help when she needs it, she said.
"I've been stubborn this year," Wood said. "My mom has been wanting to get me a tutor for math because I haven't been doing so well, but I keep telling her, 'No, I'll get better at this.' But I do admit now I can't always handle some of the stuff."
Wood will graduate from high school in 2009 and plans to attend MSU, where she wants to study to become a veterinarian.
MSU has many resources available for its nearly 1,000 students who are registered with The Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, said John Pedraza, disability resource coordinator.
Along with having one of the most accessible campuses in the nation, Pedraza said, the university also offers alternative textbooks and testing accommodations for students registered with disabilities.
"We don't provide anyone with an advantage or a leg up on other students, but we try to get the students on an equal playing field - so they have the same chance of success here at MSU," he said.
Crystal Lafleche, a first-time mentor for the leadership forum, graduated from MSU in May with a degree in political theory and constitutional democracy. She plans to attend the MSU College of Law on her road to becoming a civil rights attorney.
Lafleche has a vision impairment. She explained that "what you can see 200 feet away, I have to be 20 feet away before it could even come into my eyesight."
She wanted to mentor so she could demonstrate that even with a disability, you can still accomplish a lot, she said.
"They're having a hard time getting accommodations through teachers or getting family members and friends to understand about their disabilities," Lafleche said. "I just have to teach them that I've been through it too, and you can be successful and you can rise above all the hard stuff and (your disability) doesn't define you."
Wood said the key to living with a disability is to just not give up.
"As much as things might be hard for you, try not to give up and try to find those people who believe in you … and it will help you get through life," she said.
"If you feel like you totally want to give up, just take a deep breath and maybe try a different approach to your situation."
