Malaspina student overcomes learning disability

Sometimes in life, the greatest victories often come from our greatest challenges, especially those we overcome within ourselves.

For Malaspina University-College student Susan MacIsaac, a recent winner of the President’s Award for Academic Achievement, that challenge came in the form of a severe learning disability that often left her feeling hopeless and confused, wondering why her grades weren’t matching her hard work and effort.

“I had moments where I just thought I was stupid,” said MacIsaac, a third year student in the Bachelor of Natural Resource Protection program. “When I finally found out I had a learning disability, it was an answer to everything I had been struggling with.”

MacIsaac was officially diagnosed in 2005 with a learning disorder in mathematics, reading and processing speed. All were well below the average curve. Since then, she has excelled as a Malaspina student, making the Dean’s List in her first two years and receiving the President’s Award for Academic Achievement in 2007 as the student with the highest gpa in her program.

“That award meant a lot to me,” said MacIsaac. “It really helped validate all my hard work and give me the confidence I need to continue to excel.”

MacIsaac struggled with learning early in life, especially in mathematics and reading. She always found ways to cope with it, but had an idea something was wrong for a very long time.

Before coming to Malaspina, she attended another post-secondary institution and grew increasingly frustrated with the results of her hard work and the response to her own concerns.

“I was very active about getting extra help, but nothing worked. I expressed concerns to the faculty in my program, but they had no suggestions to help with my learning. I was told to sink or swim. It was my worst moment.”

When she came to Malaspina, she approached the disability resource centre and got all the help she needed. She received accommodation on her exams (extra time and privacy), had access to a tutor and a scribe, and was supplied with some assistive software and technology to help her studies.

“At first, I was hesitant to tell Malaspina instructors I had a learning disability, but once I was in the program, the instructors were wonderful about it, even though I didn’t yet have official documentation of my disability. They went out of their way to set up quiet working space for me if I needed it, gave me more time on my exams and always stayed behind and waited for me to finish.”

MacIsaac is very thankful for the help she has received from her resource management professors and everyone at Malaspina’s Disability Resource Centre.

“I feel like they are invested in my success, like I am a person and not just another name on a list, not just a number. It’s a nice feeling,” she said.

“She’s a lot more confident now than she was when she started the program,” said Marilyn Funk, a professor in the Resource Management program. “Now we look to her for feedback about lessons and course content. She is a sparkling gem and a pleasure to have in the classroom.”

“She is a very mature student,” added Resource Management professor Greg Klimes. “She has gone through her own personal journey and is a very outgoing, pleasant, intelligent student who is a sponge for information. She has a great personality and always has a smile on her face.”

After she graduates, MacIsaac hopes to find her dream job as a wildlife and environmental conservation educator, creating interactive education programming for both children and adults, to get them engaged and excited about the natural world.

“She’ll never have a problem finding jobs,” said Funk. “She is a brilliant, critical thinker.”

While Klimes and Funk are confident MacIsaac will have no trouble finding the job of her dreams, they have a wish of their own for her. They’d like to see her as the host of her own tv show.

“We would love to see her on some kind of wildlife nature show. She would be an excellent host and we know she would do an amazing job. It’s right up her alley. Kids would love her,” said Klimes.

With her greatest challenge now overcome, MacIsaac can look back and see how much her life has changed, how far she has come and how close she is to living out her dreams.

“Being diagnosed with a learning disability was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. “I never would have been able to succeed without an official diagnosis. I am incredibly happy and know that I will succeed in all future endeavours.”