Personal Story:
Building My ConfidenceWhen Thomas Beckett graduated from Arcadia High School, he wanted to attend college. That’s what kids were talking about and he too wanted to experience college life.
So, his parents Rob and Laurie helped him explore options. At first, they thought of Gateway Community College because it was closest to them. However, Thomas chose Phoenix College because it seemed like more of a college campus and bus transportation was easier to PC.
Laurie was surprised by how welcoming the community college system was. She noted the ease of registering for classes: from their forms to purchasing books at the bookstore.
Choosing classes was the next task. Since Thomas was attending Phoenix College for the experience and not necessarily for a degree, they looked for classes in which he would be interested and would succeed. Mitra Mehraban from the Learning Center at PC knew teachers and course content so she offered some assistance with those choices. Thomas has taken a variety of classes from History of Cinema to Weight Training to Introduction to Business. He found that classes with more interaction and not simple lecture were his favorites.
Thomas’ most memorable class was Public Speaking. Laurie expressed pride in his choice of this class because of his past speech problems. He has Down syndrome. Thomas likes to talk to people so he especially enjoyed the student interaction in that setting. He wrote a PSA for pedestrians and bicyclists about crossing Phoenix streets and presented a persuasive speech on the use of photo radar. In a semester critique of his strengths, Thomas wrote, “The most important factors for me to become a successful speaker are (1) to remember the confidence I learned in the Public Speaking classroom and (2) to prepare, prepare, prepare my speech.”
Currently, Thomas is working at a Health and Fitness Center as a club attendant. He chose this because of a personal interest in physical fitness and his enjoyment of people.