Sarah Baez is an intern at BFL’s Transitional Housing Program.

I am currently interning at Barrier Free Living, an organization dedicated to helping individuals with a disability try to live barrier free. In working with this organization, I have been granted the opportunity to gain experience in the public relations field and I am seeing more and more each day that it is possible to live free of barriers and limits, regardless of what obstacles arise.

Nature struggles to bring beauty when the harshness of winter lingers. Despite the unbearable temperatures and vicious conditions the flowers struggle to be born into their glorious bloom. There is no guarantee that the flowers will be prosperous in the battle before them, but nevertheless they stay determined.

I am one of those persistent flowers, determined to deliver beauty into this world. The storm is seen through my eyes, and no fear or discouragement will poison my soil. I am visually impaired because of an eye condition that called Optic Atrophy; this makes what I face in life different, but this does not limit me.

I have a goal of attaining my bachelor’s degree in Advertising/Public Relations and to work in this field after I graduate. In pursuing my goal, there has been a storm of obstacles in my way. There have been intense winds: Individuals who tried to discourage me due their ignorance of what I can and cannot do; They didn’t believe that I could stand strong through the wild winds of life. I have also faced explosive thunder: The ignorant and insensitive comments and inquiries that I hear daily because I do things differently. There has also been severe lightning: My visual condition; I have a limited visual range which causes a lot of strain, but I do what I need to do to get by. I endure this storm of obstacles daily, and yet, like the prosperous flower, I am sturdy.

Having faced and endured challenges in life in addition to having gained knowledge and support from Barrier Free Living, I am stronger and wiser. Thus far, there has been no struggle or conflict that has caused me to give up or even take a different route. I have chosen a path that takes me to the place where I am capable of bringing the desired and necessary beauty into the world. And in this place I am one of the flowers who has survived the harshness of the storms to be born into my glorious bloom.