We invited Grace Arnold and Kelly Haan to write a blog about their experiences with Think College Policy Advocates (TCPA). This annual program, a partnership between Think College and AUCD, offers college students an opportunity to learn about advocacy and disability rights. Learn more about it here.
Hi there! We are Grace Arnold and Kelly Haan (pictured at right; Grace on left, Kelly on right), the 2023 Colorado TCPA team.
I’m Grace. I am a senior at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). I study science and nutrition. This is my fourth year at UCCS and I am going to graduate in May [2024]. I work as a tour guide for UCCS, and I volunteer at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo doing food prep for the animals. I applied with Kelly for TCPA to learn how to be more confident, to know about laws, to do advocacy, and to travel to Washington DC! I was so excited to be a part of this. I have done self-advocacy before, and I even met John Hickenlooper when he was the governor of Colorado!
I’m Kelly. I am the Campus and Community Coordinator for the UCCS Office of Inclusive Services. Our office’s job is to support college students with intellectual disabilities to go to college, take inclusive courses for credit, have meaningful employment experiences, build social skills and make friends (my area of focus), and learn independent living skills (my area too!) so they can be as independent as possible and reach their personal goals in life! This is my third year working for the office, but I have been a part of the UCCS community for about 8 years, as I was a student here. I graduated in 2020 with a Bachelors of Innovation in Inclusive Early Childhood Education. I applied for TCPA with Grace to learn more about the legal system, to understand what legislation exists that supports the work we do, and what currently provides barriers for people with disabilities. I wanted to learn what I could do at the government level to advocate for more inclusion in college for people with disabilities, and in life in general!
Preparation and Training
Before going to Washington DC, we both participated in Zoom training every other week taught by our amazing leaders, Liz Weintraub, Denise Rozell, and Caroline Jurisich [staff at AUCD]. During these calls, we learned about how bills go through the process of becoming laws. We learned how to locate our representatives for our state, how to contact them about important issues, and how to schedule meetings with them when we were visiting DC. They taught us how to prepare for our in-person meetings with members and staffers on Capitol Hill. They gave us relevant homework: doing research on our representatives and learning about their involvement in disability work in the past, if they had any. This helped us craft our main points to be relevant to each member or staffer, and help educate them on the issues. The training also involved learning how the US and local governments are set up, and who is in charge of what; these are all things we really wanted to learn going into the program!
(Grace) The "I’m Just a Bill" song from SchoolHouse Rock helped me a lot. I got how it works!
Arriving in DC and the AUCD Conference
After all our training online, we finally arrived in DC in November 2023, and got to meet everyone in person! We met our fantastic Think College coach, Sheila Johnson, who welcomed us, answered our questions, helped us learn the ins and outs of the city, and helped us prepare for all of our important meetings (she attended them with us too!). (Grace, Sheila, and Kelly are pictured at left, waiting for a Metro train.) It was so great to actually see everyone after spending so much time with them online over the previous months. We had fun talking and getting to know each other, exploring the city together, and sharing stories. We also had more training while we were there about important issues like sub-minimum wage and marriage penalties regarding disability benefits. We got to attend some AUCD conference sessions as well!
(Grace) I think the conference was literally the best. I will say, I loved meeting new people and I loved seeing Liz [Weintraub]. I loved hearing her talk about getting married, losing benefits, and finding love. I loved the capitol building, seeing it in person. [Liz and Grace are pictured at right.]
We also got to present a poster on the topic of independent living in college at the AUCD poster session! This was a great opportunity to talk to other conference attendees about our specific college and inclusive program, and how Grace lives independently in her own apartment on campus.
Capitol Hill Meetings
When we were in DC, we got to visit and have meetings on Capitol Hill with staffers for our Colorado legislators to educate them on and advocate for inclusive higher education! We met with Alec Esteban (Legislative Assistant for Congressman Doug Lamborn), Lina Lenis (Legislative Assistant for Senator John Hickenlooper), Sarah Mueller, who is lead disability staff person for the Chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Katie Burns (legislative correspondent for Senator Michael Bennet; pictured at left with Grace and Kelly). This was such an amazing experience. Everything was very official, and we were nervous at first, but quickly got the hang of it! We both thought it was incredible to get to walk around the very large, very fancy Senate and House office buildings.
Alec Esteban, the staffer we had our first meeting with, shared that he has a sister with a disability who is interested in going to college, so he was extra invested in this issue. This was such a great way to connect and we were so happy he shared this with us; we invited him to come visit our campus in Colorado! He asked Grace questions about how she navigates campus and what she does for fun. Lina Lenis was excited to learn about inclusive college as it was something she had never heard of before. Sarah Mueller loved hearing what college was like for the students and shared about her own advocacy work. Katie Burns asked questions about Grace’s employment experiences, and asked if there was anything their office could do to support opportunities for students to attend inclusive college!
(Grace) I would say that it was the first time in my life I got to do this. I was so happy I got to tell my story about college. I was so nervous, but they were so nice and friendly. Alec was my favorite, he was so kind and so generous. I told him about college. I thought "Oh wow, I can’t believe I just met Alec!" I got way more confident. I loved meeting staff. It was the best thing ever that I did. [Photo at right is Alec Esteban, Grace, and Kelly.]
(Kelly) It was incredible to watch Grace’s confidence skyrocket during and after each meeting (my own, as well)! Before we went into the first meeting, we were both sweating, rehearsing our scripts, and trying to take deep breaths, and by the last meeting, Grace was walking in, giving a firm handshake and introduction, handing out her business card, and sharing all the details her story off the top of her head- no notes! The people we were speaking to were so important and had the power to make change; Grace really impacted them positively by sharing how college was her dream and how much it has improved her life and future. Some of them were brought to tears. I was SO proud of Grace and our work as a team to make this happen even though the hill visits were far out of our comfort zone!
Closing Conference Session
At the end of the AUCD conference, all of the conference attendees, including us, were addressed by some amazing champions in the disability advocacy world, including Senator Tammy Duckworth. We were honored to be there with these very special people, and the things they shared were impressive. They talked all about the work they have done and are doing to make a positive difference for people with disabilities in the world.
(Kelly) I don’t remember exactly who said it, but one of the speakers started out their speech saying "so, we all know that behavior is a form of communication." This gave me chills! I didn’t realize that people that high up in power in our government would hold the same kind of views about students as we do “down here” in everyday life with students. I loved hearing about legislation in the works that would help schools actually implement the policies that are amazing and inclusive in theory, but are hardly ever put into action. It was so encouraging to me and eye opening, there really is so much of (what I feel is) the right work being done there for disability rights and inclusion. The speakers we heard from seemed to really believe in the cause we were there advocating for.
The Impact of TCPA
The experience that TCPA gave us was life changing. We learned so much about legislative processes, tried new things even when they seemed intimidating, met new people, made great connections, and stood up for what we believe in!
(Grace) I feel like a new person. I got WAY confident. I talked to people in the airport about my experience in college on the plane home. I told my family and my friends and my girlfriend about it. I can tell everyone about it!
(Kelly) Before I participated in TCPA, I felt like I didn’t know enough to be an advocate. I only had the context of the 20 students we serve in our program at UCCS. After completing TCPA, I feel so much more prepared as an advocate and a professional in this field after learning from TCPA and doing all the research prior to the trip about my own Inclusive Post Secondary Education (IPSE) program, and others around the country. Now that I know about specific laws that are currently in place that provide barriers to people with disabilities, and that support people with disabilities, I know personally what to keep an eye on to vote for/against and to educate others about, like sub-minimum wage for example! When I came home and told my family, friends, and husband about everything I learned, nobody had ever heard of that. When I taught them about it, they all asked how they could help change this. I feel like I can spread the word about these issues so much easier now because I’m more educated about them, and know where to find credible background information. I now know how to apply the skills I learned to better support the students we serve in our program as well!
We learned skills!
Just by taking the trip itself, we both gained independent living skills through traveling to a new city! We practiced keeping track of our plane tickets, getting places on time, using maps, using Uber, riding the Metro (see photo at left), ordering (LOTS) of Starbucks, going out to eat at new restaurants, and waking up on time to get dressed up professionally and make it to the right location for the meetings and conference gatherings! We even learned how to start up a conversation with a stranger. We were welcomed home by proud family and friends.
(Grace) The day we flew on the plane was my birthday! 24! It was the best birthday ever. I got to sit in the pilot's seat. The food in DC is so good. We were having fun going around to places like the Guy Fieri restaurant. The whole city is my favorite ever. The zoo was the best because, me, I love animals. It was my first time going there with Kelly. I’ve never imagined getting to do that!
(Kelly) My favorite part of the trip, besides our amazing meetings on Capitol Hill, was seeing Grace tell three different people in the airports on our way home about her experience. I could tell that she had become empowered by TCPA to be a self-advocate! I heard her say to the person ahead of her in the Dunkin Donuts line, “Hey, did you know I went to Capitol Hill? I told them about my college experience.” This prompted a conversation where Grace shared her hopes and dreams in life and how college has helped her get there. She said “Everyone should get to go to college.” The person she talked to worked at a university! They said “I am so happy I ran into you, I need to bring this up to my admin[istrator] and see if we have an inclusive program at our college”. It is through talking to strangers in a place like the Dunkin Donuts line that a huge ripple of advocacy for inclusion can start! People just don’t know about this world of inclusion and access; it seems to be hidden for no reason. Let’s talk about it!
Our Advice
Our advice for people who are thinking about applying to TCPA next year is to just try it! You will learn, help others, have so much fun, and gain confidence. We were scared because it was such a big deal, but we did it anyway, and it ended up being the best experience.
(Grace) Totally do it! Just have fun. Getting nervous is basically normal, I guess it is part of life. I really have been helping other people learn to be an advocate now since the program.
Our Future Plans
(Kelly) I will continue working for the UCCS Office of Inclusive Services for a very long time! I love it there and I love the students. I will miss Grace so much next year, but I know she is moving on to do amazing things. I will be starting a masters degree in Sociology in the Fall with emphasis courses and field work in Disability Studies/Advocacy. TCPA inspired me to continue to learn about civic duty, and how I can be a part of the solution- especially through advocating for inclusion for people with disabilities!
(Grace) I will graduate in May 2024. I want to work at the Denver Zoo. I want to do food prep for the animals. I am going to be independent. I am a new person. I am an advocate!
(Final photo at right: Grace and Kelly on teh steps of the US Capitol.)