Anthony Greene

Being born with cerebral palsy, I heard early and often, "Anthony, you can't do that" or "Anthony, you shouldn't try that" when it came to performing tasks or exercises everyone else could do. I developed a "watch me" attitude early on that drove me to show that I could do it, even if it took me a little longer or it meant doing it differently than others. My first job at 16 was bagging groceries at a local grocery. My first day was particularly difficult as I was slower bagging than the other baggers which created some unhappy customers, a frustrated cashier, and an overbearing manager adding pressure to "hurry up" or "be quicker". I started hearing everyone's voices in my head, "Anthony, you can't do this." While on my lunch break, I started to let the voices get to me and considered just quitting, not going back to finish my shift. I heard a voice inside that said, "Go Back. Go Back.". I listened to my inner voice, went back and in time became one of the top baggers. If I had let the negative voices win and walked away or quit, I am convinced my life would have been completely different as I might have kept quitting when life got hard or tough. Instead, I learned to push through the tough times, persevering and overcoming negative thoughts and attitudes. I think about that experience often and feel it serves as a life message, "Go Back, keep striving, keep growing, always move forward". It provides encouragement even today when life seems difficult or hard.