School has always been difficult for me. When I was in elementary, I was told I had a learning disability. Just by knowing that I did, it made learning extremely difficult for me because I was constantly battling the self limiting belief that I wasn’t good enough to perform well in school. I struggled from elementary through community college because of my negative outlook of my learning disability and that I Iacked the study skills and habits necessary to succeed.
School has always been difficult for me. When I was in elementary, I was told I had a learning disability. Just by knowing that I did, it made learning extremely difficult for me because I was constantly battling the self limiting belief that I wasn’t good enough to perform well in school. I struggled from elementary through community college because of my negative outlook of my learning disability and that I Iacked the study skills and habits necessary to succeed.
I momentarily dropped out of community college because it was too difficult at the time and I chose to focus on finding a way to serve others while I figured out a way to overcome my own limitations. I chose to serve as an instructional aide at a school district and also became a manager at a mobile laser tag company. While working at the school, I received many praises for my ability to motivate, inspire, and help kids make progress in their education and mindset. For instance, I helped a kindergartener who was struggling to learn numbers 1-10 and shut down anytime her teacher or parents tried to teach her. I noticed that she was an excellent drawer and incorporated her drawing into the lesson. After working with her for two days, she could label and recognize the numbers and participated more eagerly with the number lessons, which impressed her teacher and parents. Working as a manager of a mobile laser tag company taught me more about responsibility, sacrifice, and leadership. I helped coordinate over 200 events for children and teens and provided services for charity and nonprofit organizations such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Burn Institute, Touch a Truck, and YMCA.
While providing service to others in need, these experiences helped me rebuild my self identity and confidence. It showed me that I am valuable and can make a difference in others’ lives. When I felt bold enough, I went back to community college with determination and a game plan. I told myself I am going to build an improved learning system and that I would learn how to get an A in any class I want.
I met with two learning specialists once a week for 3 months to build better study habits and develop effective learning strategies. After working with them diligently for 3 months, I finally had a system to learn effectively and achieve better grades. It has been over 3 years since then and I have received nothing less than an A in every class I have taken and I feel much more confident in my abilities as a student and a person. The results became apparent this past December when I graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0.
For the last eight months, I have been working as a Registered Behavior Technician at Butterfly Effects, a mental health agency. Everyday, I get the opportunity to improve the lives of kids and teens with autism, build independent skills, social skills, better mindsets, and good habits. Just last month, I was humbled to partake in the joy of two of my clients in their progression. One client had a breakthrough in his ability to take notes and write questions independently after reading passages and the other client rode his bike for the first time without training wheels. Sharing in the challenge and quest to help my clients overcome their limitations and make progress in their goals is extremely rewarding because I know they each have potential to be contributing members of society in their own way and I am honored to play a part in that.
I believe my past limitations gave me a unique perspective and passion to assist children and teens with special needs overcome their challenges, feel confident, and perform better in school and in their lives.
My next goal is to gain the necessary education to serve youth with special needs to a greater extent by completing a Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis and become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. My vision is to use my education and life experiences to become a servant leader in the field of Behavior Analysis to inspire and guide Registered Behavior Technicians and service providers in using their unique abilities and compassion to accelerate the progress of youth with special needs overcome challenges.
I am planning on attending National University’s Master in Applied Behavior Analysis program this coming June 2021. I am very thankful for receiving a scholarship for half the tuition, but still need $13,000 for the other half of tuition and books. Like many, this last year was difficult. I experienced unforeseen medical expenses to save a loved one’s life and it took money out of my education savings to help pay for it. Anything you could contribute is greatly appreciated and will assist me in serving a population I believe in.
By investing in my education, you will be investing in helping people overcome their obstacles and limitations.
I sincerely thank you for joining me on this journey.
Frank Fiorenza