InclusiveU student Shafreya Wilkins ’25 (center) gathers with classmates in Marshall Square Mall following an internship prep seminar. She enjoys the family-like atmosphere of the InclusiveU program.
Shafreya Wilkins ’25 has a vision for the future: operating her own food truck with mini dishes, 比如玉米饼, 滑块, 给孩子们的松露薯条和冰沙. 对威尔金斯来说——他特别喜欢海鲜——鱿鱼, 牡蛎, 虾, 寿司……”我都喜欢,” she says—the food studies program at 澳门线上赌场’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics provided a welcomed immersion in the world of cuisine and food systems.
“I always wanted to learn how to cook to be 更多的 independent for myself,” says Wilkins, a fan of the 美食网 和 烹饪频道. “I was always interested in food because it was a part of my upbringing. 食物总是让我们走到一起. 我们是一个非裔美国人家庭, 所以我们每周日做完礼拜后都会吃灵魂食物, 但我们总是尝试不同的菜肴.”
Wilkins and her classmates exchange high fives following their internship prep seminar. 明年秋天，她将在OneGroup保险公司实习, where she’ll gain business and marketing skills that will help her pursue her goal of owning and operating a food truck.
威尔金斯将获得食品研究证书 InclusiveU-一个倡议的 教育学院 劳伦斯B. 泰肖夫包容性高等教育中心—that welcomes students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to experience college life in a fully inclusive setting. 通过类, Wilkins improved her cooking skills and enjoyed learning how food is grown, 加工及配送. 她创造了一个 食物的博客 on Pinterest to post local restaurant reviews and plans to shift to YouTube and feature videos of herself reviewing food experiences in different states when she travels.
Wilkins credits InclusiveU for helping her become 更多的 independent. The Nottingham High School graduate and Syracuse native enjoys the peer-to-peer mentoring that has helped her make friends and participate in campus activities. She’s honed her self-advocacy skills and attended Student Empowerment Day in Albany and a national student leadership conference in Colorado Springs, 由泰肖夫中心主办. 今年秋天, 她将在OneGroup实习, an insurance firm that will provide her with a unique opportunity to learn about marketing and development work and to gain knowledge about insurance and owning a business, 支持她拥有自己的餐车的目标.
在锡拉丘兹赠礼日, Kayla Burton G’19 of ESPN (left) interviews InclusiveU student Sam Clark ’24, 威尔金斯和贝丝·迈尔斯, 劳伦斯B. 泰肖夫全纳教育副教授, 在JMA无线穹顶的直播中.
Wilkins is grateful for all she’s accomplished in and out of the classroom—and it’s a reflection of her perseverance, hard work and faith that have led her to prevail on a difficult journey and inspire others. At age 9, she survived a fire that claimed the lives of her mother and a younger brother. She sustained a traumatic brain injury and fought for her life, spending three months in a coma. 在她漫长的康复过程中, she used a wheelchair and had to relearn everything—how to eat, 走, 说话, 系鞋带, 穿好衣服. 三年后, she endured another unspeakable tragedy when her father was murdered, leaving her grandparents to raise her and her youngest brother. 她说:“我对自己所克服的一切感到非常自豪.
We visited with Wilkins to learn 更多的 about her and her InclusiveU experience.
包容大学如何帮助你实现你的目标?
InclusiveU has helped me have a better understanding of how to maintain a proper goal that I set for myself as far as time management and being prepared for class—and you have to be prepared for life because you never know what’s going to come up. I want to work in food services as a cook in the Syracuse City School District, 然后拥有我自己的餐车. InclusiveU prepared me and gave me knowledge of how to properly do it. 你需要一个团队，因为每个人都需要帮助. 你需要合适的系统为你工作.
Wilkins (left) was part of a group of InclusiveU students who visited Colorado last year to attend the Student Leadership Conference in Colorado Springs, 是由劳伦斯·B. 泰肖夫全纳教育中心. She’s serving on the planning committee for the 2024 conference in Chapel Hill, N.C. 图片由泰肖夫中心提供.
哪些经历让你印象深刻?
One of the best experiences I’ve had is traveling to different places, 不管是奥尔巴尼还是科罗拉多, 为自己辩护. 当我来到这里, 我很害羞，不知道如何为自己说话, 但现在我可以为自己和他人说话了. My experience at 澳门线上赌场 has motivated me to do anything I want to do. 它给了我很多以前没有的自信. I just needed 更多的 people around for me to be motivated, to accomplish what I want to accomplish. 我想我在这里就是在做这件事.
为什么为自己辩护对你来说很重要?
人们认为，因为我们有残疾, 我们没有学习的能力, 我自己也经历过. If they tell you that you cannot do it, sometimes you believe it. 多年来，我一直相信这一点，但却陷入了困境. 这就是为什么我花了这么长时间才上大学, because I never saw anybody with a disability go to college. But when one of my friends who graduated from InclusiveU told me about the program, I was interested because I always do research on how to better myself. 残疾人可以做很多事情. 不要让任何人限制你的能力. 当我开始这段旅程时，我知道我能做到.
包容性大学的社区方面对你有什么帮助?
我们是一家人，真的. 如果有人需要帮助，我们总是愿意帮助. 这里的工作人员都很棒. 他们的大门永远是敞开的. 我们可以随时联系他们, 他们总是愿意回答我们的任何问题, 这太棒了.
What are the most important things that you want people to know about you?
Even though I have a disability, I still can do whatever someone with a non-disability can do. 我知道我必须更加努力工作，因为我有残疾, 但我总是会证明人们是错的，并完成它. 我的另一个特点是我的善良. 我是一个很可爱的人. 有些人利用了我善良的心, but I don’t let that stop me from being the person that God created me to be because I will always help anyone in need. My faith is always going to stay strong, no matter what I’m going through.
