Students Speak Out in the 1800wheelchair Essay Contest

According to the more than 30 students who entered the 1800wheelchair.com Scholarship Essay Contest, being disabled in college means facing both social and physical obstacles. It’s been 15 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, yet disabled students say they still struggle with accessibility on campus. The challenges don’t end with the physical environment—students say colleges and universities need to improve understanding, acceptance and inclusion. Building on previous scholarship themes, entrants were asked to write an essay explaining how they would increase campus inclusion for students with a physical disability. Students not only call for more and better facilities, but for more attentive staff and faculty. Essay respondents report varying degrees of inclusion - every campus is different. Joseph Piekarski, founder of 1800wheelchair.com, says, “With the third iteration of this scholarship program, we wanted to move forward toward a solution. Previously we identified a real issue on campus. Now, we wanted to prompt discussion about how we can solve these important issuses.” And The Winner Is… The winner of this year’s $500 scholarship is Kristen Stamp, a junior at Ball State University in Municie, Indiana. Diagnosied with spina bifida at a very early age, Kristen speaks from first hand knowledge. Kristen's advice to new college students, "It's a challenge, you've got to take advanctage of the resourses available to you." 1800wheelchair.com congratulates Kristen and is proud to give voice to these important issues.

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