25岁的包容性大学学生Shafreya Wilkins(中)在参加实习准备研讨会后与同学们在马歇尔广场购物中心聚会. 她喜欢包容大学项目的家庭氛围.
25岁的莎芙蕾亚·威尔金斯对未来有一个愿景:经营自己的小菜餐车, such as tacos, sliders, truffle fries and slushies for the kids. For Wilkins—who is especially fond of seafood…calamari, oysters, shrimp, sushi… “I love it all,雪城大学(Syracuse University)食品研究项目的大卫. 福克体育与人类动力学学院提供了一个受欢迎的沉浸在烹饪和食物系统的世界.
“我一直想学习如何做饭，让自己更独立，”威尔金斯说 Food Network and the Cooking Channel. “我一直对食物很感兴趣，因为这是我成长过程中的一部分. Food always brought us together. We’re an African American family, so we have soul food every Sunday after church, but we always tried different cuisines.”
威尔金斯和她的同学们在实习准备研讨会结束后互相击掌. She will intern next fall with insurance firm OneGroup, 她将在哪里获得商业和营销技能，帮助她实现拥有和经营一辆快餐车的目标.
Wilkins will earn a certificate in food studies through InclusiveU—an initiative of the School of Education’s Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education欢迎有智力和发育障碍的学生在一个完全包容的环境中体验大学生活. Through classes, 威尔金斯提高了她的烹饪技巧，并喜欢学习食物是如何种植的, processed and distributed. She created a food blog 在Pinterest上发布当地餐馆的评论，并计划转向YouTube，并在旅行时发布自己评论不同州美食体验的视频.
威尔金斯认为包容性大学帮助她变得更加独立. 这位毕业于诺丁汉高中(Nottingham High School)、土生土长的锡拉丘兹(Syracuse)人喜欢这种点对点的辅导，这种辅导帮助她结交了朋友，参与了校园活动. 她磨练了自己的自我辩护技巧，参加了奥尔巴尼的学生赋权日和科罗拉多斯普林斯的全国学生领导会议, hosted by the Taishoff Center. This fall, she’ll intern with OneGroup, 一家保险公司，这将为她提供一个学习市场营销和发展工作的独特机会，并获得有关保险和拥有企业的知识, supporting her goal of having her own food truck.
During Syracuse Giving Day, ESPN的Kayla Burton G ' 19(左)采访包容性大学的学生Sam Clark ' 24, Wilkins and Beth Myers, Lawrence B. Taishoff Associate Professor of Inclusive Education, in a livestream broadcast from the JMA Wireless Dome.
威尔金斯很感激她在课堂内外所取得的成就——这是她坚持不懈的体现, 勤奋和信念使她在艰难的旅程中获胜，并激励他人. 9岁时，她在一场火灾中幸存下来，这场火灾夺去了她母亲和一个弟弟的生命. 她遭受了创伤性脑损伤，与生命作斗争，昏迷了三个月. During her long recovery, 她坐在轮椅上，不得不重新学习一切——如何吃饭, walk, talk, tie shoes, get dressed. Three years later, 当她的父亲被谋杀时，她又忍受了一场难以形容的悲剧, 留下祖父母抚养她和她最小的弟弟. “I’m very proud of what I’ve overcome,” she says.
我们访问了威尔金斯，以了解更多澳门线上赌场她和她的包容性大学的经验.
How has InclusiveU helped you with your goals?
包容性帮助我更好地理解了如何保持我为自己设定的适当目标，就时间管理和为课堂做准备而言，你必须为生活做好准备，因为你永远不知道会发生什么. 我想在锡拉丘兹市学区的食品服务部门当厨师, and then have my own food truck. 包容让我做好了准备，并教会了我如何正确地去做. You need a team because everybody needs help. You need the proper systems to work for you.
威尔金斯(左)是去年访问科罗拉多州参加在科罗拉多斯普林斯举行的学生领导会议的包容性大学学生小组的一员, which was hosted by the Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Education. 她是2024年在新罕布什尔州教堂山举行的会议的规划委员会成员.C. Photo courtesy of the Taishoff Center.
What experiences have stood out for you?
我最好的经历之一就是去不同的地方旅行, whether it’s Albany or Colorado, advocating for myself. When I came here, I was very shy and didn’t know how to speak up for myself, but now I can speak up for myself and others. 我在雪城大学的经历激励着我去做任何我想做的事. It gave me so much confidence that I didn’t have before. 我只是需要更多的人在我身边激励我，去完成我想要完成的事情. I think I’m doing that by being here.
Why is it important for you to advocate for yourself?
People think because we have disabilities, we are not capable of learning, and I have experienced that myself. 如果他们告诉你你做不到，有时候你会相信. I believed it for years and was stuck. That’s what took me so long to come to college, 因为我从没见过残疾人上大学. 但是当我的一个从包容性大学毕业的朋友告诉我这个项目的时候, 我很感兴趣，因为我一直在研究如何让自己变得更好. People with disabilities can do a lot of things. Don’t let anyone limit what you can do. When I started this journey, I knew I could do it.
How has the community aspect of InclusiveU helped you?
We’re a family, we really are. If someone needs help, we are always willing to help. The staff members are amazing. Their doors are always open. We can contact them whenever we need them, 他们总是愿意回答我们的任何问题, so that’s awesome.
你希望人们了解你的最重要的事情是什么?
即使我有残疾，我仍然可以做任何正常人能做的事. I know I have to work harder because I have a disability, but I will always prove people wrong and get it done. Another thing about me is my kindness. I’m a very sweet person. Some people take advantage of my kind heart, 但我不会让这妨碍我成为上帝创造我的那个人，因为我总是会帮助任何需要帮助的人. 无论我经历了什么，我的信念永远都是坚强的.
