Delaney Potter

Hi, my name is Delaney Potter. If you are reading this I would assume it is because you are hoping to get to know me. While I could tell you my life story starting from 2002 to today, I think in the end you still would not know the real me. I want to give you a glimpse into who I really am and to do that I need to tell you about my experience with Autism. While I do not have autism, others who do have created everlasting positive impacts on my life and are the reason I am who and where I am today.

Junior year of high school, I spent one period a day interning with a class that was part of the Autism Program. In the specific class I interned in there were six students with severe autism. I spent the day assisting students with educational tasks that were specific to each of their Individualized Educational Plans and much more. Senior year I had more availability in my schedule I was able to intern not only one period a day but four.

When I began my internship I was going through a very difficult time in my life. I had just been forced to transfer schools due to an unsafe situation at my prior school, and my depression and anxiety were at their worst. Going to school was a chore and I was rarely going; that was until this internship. Every day I walked through that door it felt as if I left all of the bad and hard that was in my life at the door. I was able to be myself within the four walls of that classroom, and nothing else that was going on in my life seemed to affect me or matter. From the first moment I walked into the classroom it became my safe haven. The reason for this; the students.

Although the majority of the students and I could not verbally communicate as I do with others, this did not stop us from building connections and relationships. From the high fives and hugs to the laughs and joy they all brought me, we were able to create friendships that became most important to me. These students showed me how to persist in the hardest of times and to never give up no matter how difficult things can be. They were able to spark the light in me again that had been lost for so long, and that no one else could find.

This internship lead me to realize that working with these students is what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I am now a second-year student at the University of Georgia pursuing a Bachelor's and Masters in Special Education. With this degree, I hope to teach these students and change their lives for the better as they have for me.