0:02

Welcome, everyone, to a

0:02

new episode of audaciously

0:07

speaking, this is actually going

0:07

to be the episode that will

0:12

start off a series of episodes.

0:12

I'm very excited about it. And

0:19

before I go any further, I want

0:19

to say hello to my niece, and my

0:23

nephew, Luke, and my niece,

0:23

Bella, this is for you guys. So

0:28

in this episode, I'm gonna tell

0:28

you about an experience that I

0:33

had at the University of Miami

0:33

as a freshman, and what I

0:39

learned from it in hindsight,

0:39

and at that moment, so there are

0:47

lessons that we learn when we

0:47

look back at things. And there

0:51

are lessons that we learn right

0:51

then and there as we're

0:53

experiencing it. And these

0:53

lessons helped me way after the

1:01

experience. So I'm hoping it's

1:01

going to help you too. I wanted

1:06

to talk about how at the

1:06

University of Miami, it was

1:09

1988. That was before the

1:09

Americans with Disability Act.

1:15

And it's after the

1:15

Rehabilitation Act of Section

1:20

504. I went there, and I was

1:20

really excited about it.

1:25

It's supposed to be the Harvard of the South.

1:26

That's what I was told in 1988,

1:32

there were articles and

1:32

everyone's so excited that I was

1:35

going, it was really a big deal.

1:35

And I was the first person in my

1:39

family to go to college, so it's

1:39

a bigger deal. And then of

1:44

course, we have to remember that

1:44

I'm disabled. And so that makes

1:48

it even bigger, bigger deal. So

1:48

anyway, I was having a really

1:53

good time there. You know, I

1:53

enjoyed learning, I enjoyed the

1:56

professors, I enjoyed

1:56

everything. one day, I needed to

2:01

use the bathroom, and I didn't

2:01

know where to go. So there's a

2:06

sign in the Eye, which by the

2:06

way, the building the Student

2:10

Union, and everybody is there.

2:10

It's right next to the

2:13

bookstore. It's in the eye, when

2:13

people buy their food, watch TV,

2:19

there's a bowling alley, I mean,

2:19

it was the place to be. And in

2:24

the breezeway, that's where

2:24

you're going to find a lot of

2:27

people with tables set up,

2:27

always asking you to sign a

2:32

petition or join the club or,

2:32

you know, really get involved in

2:36

the whole school college

2:36

environment. And I was so

2:39

excited about that. And it's

2:39

really . Does anybody know where

2:43

the bathroom is? So these people

2:43

point to the door. And I'm like,

2:47

Okay, great. So there's a door

2:47

for the men, there's a door for

2:52

the women. And then there are

2:52

water fountains. So I went ahead

2:57

and I go into the female one.

2:57

And I noticed that there is not

3:02

a single stall that I can use.

3:02

At the very, very end, though,

3:08

there is a stall. That's not

3:08

really a stall. Yes, it has a

3:13

toilet. But then it has a shower

3:13

curtain, any rod for the shower.

3:21

And I'm thinking to myself, no

3:21

way. They really cannot think

3:26

that someone in a wheelchair is

3:26

going to use that. How is that

3:30

right? So I thought there must

3:30

be a mistake. And I go outside,

3:35

and I look to see who can give

3:35

me an explanation of it. And I

3:41

see somebody, one of the

3:41

custodians, and like excuse me,

3:46

I have to use the bathroom. Can

3:46

you tell me which one? So she

3:50

points to the same exact area

3:50

And I said to her, nope, it's

3:54

not there. I don't find one. And

3:54

she looks at me like How can

3:57

that be? So she told me to

3:57

follow her. And you know what?

4:04

She pointed to that same stall

4:04

with nothing there except a

4:10

shower curtain. And I said to

4:10

her, this can't be it. And she

4:14

spoke Spanish more than English

4:14

so I told her in Spanish like

4:18

this is not it can't be it. And

4:18

she said, yeah, that's what they

4:21

have. And I go, No, I can't go

4:21

to the bathroom there. That's

4:25

not right. The woman said if

4:25

you want I can stay there and

4:29

watch, make sure that nobody

4:29

bothers you. And I really really

4:33

have to go. So I said okay,

4:33

okay. now I'm taking a chance on

4:38

a stranger holding the door of a

4:38

shower curtain door because not

4:44

even a door to make sure that

4:44

nobody invades my privacy. And I

4:50

was really upset. So I finished

4:50

I washing

4:54

my hands. I thank her. And I knew I had to

4:54

get the bottom of this. I

4:58

thought this cannot Be it. And I

4:58

thought about it and go What

5:04

happened to the rest of the

5:04

campus. So, as time went on, I

5:09

started looking for more

5:09

bathrooms, to see if there were

5:12

any for people who use wheelcha

5:12

rs, nothing. And I went ahead, a

5:19

d I thought, This is so weird.

5:19

I'm 18 years old. And in my en

5:24

ire life, I have never had to g

5:24

to the bathroom without a doo

5:29

. That is a shower curtain.

5:29

I went home, of course, on the d

5:34

y that happened. And I told my m

5:34

m, and she was like, That's c

5:38

azy. I got totally insane. I ha

5:38

to do something about this. And

5:46

I went ahead, and I asked Dr. f

5:46

ipsie, who is the person

5:52

hat is supposedly the person t

5:52

at all disabled people went t

5:56

rough, during their time

5:56

at the University of Miami.

6:00

or any needs, or for any suggest

6:00

ons or anything at all. If

6:06

ou are disabled person, as Dr. f

6:06

ipsie, he is the man. I asked h

6:12

m, and he comes in, he meets me

6:12

at the Eye. And he says to

6:17

e, oh, what's the problem? So

6:17

I told him, when he said,

6:21

ou can always go to the clinic

6:21

if you have to use the bathro

6:24

m. And I'm thinking, Okay, wher

6:24

's the clinic? And the clinic

6:29

is far away. So if I have to

6:29

se the bathroom, I have to go fa

6:36

away. But everybody else gets

6:36

to use all of these bathroo

6:39

s. Why don't they just fix the o

6:39

e that has the shower curtain?

6:44

nd you know, Dr Flipsie if y

6:44

u know him. He's only like a San

6:48

a Claus looking man, very joll

6:48

, very happy. And everything

6:52

s pretty much laughed off or

6:52

ot a big deal kind of attitude

6:56

And I'm thinking, well, then n

6:56

body should have a door. If I

7:02

on't get a door, nobody else sh

7:02

uld. It's not fair. Now, mind

7:06

ou, this is before the ADA. S

7:06

no one is thinking. Oh, ye

7:10

h, we're doing something wr

7:10

ng. As a matter of fact, I di

7:13

n't even know that there was a

7:13

aw in place before the ADA. That

7:20

was supposed to insure me of

7:20

having some kind of respect, you

7:26

know, to go to the bathroom. So

7:26

I went ahead and I'm like, Okay,

7:30

no problem. So I'm really having

7:30

an issue with this, because the

7:34

University of Miami campus is

7:34

very large. And to have to go to

7:39

the bathroom at the clinic was

7:39

not something. I wanted. to te

7:45

l you this because right now I c

7:45

n say it calmly that at the tim

7:50

, I was very angry. I mean, we'

7:50

e talking very hot headed abo

7:54

t this. Because I couldn't belie

7:54

e it. The University of Miami

7:58

s so expensive. How did they g

7:58

t away with this? Why are th

8:02

y doing this to me? That's wh

8:02

t I'm thinking, why are they doi

8:06

g this? To me? I didn't ask to

8:06

e humiliated this way. So I

8:14

m getting really upset about i

8:14

. And then someone said, you kn

8:17

w what you should you should wri

8:17

e a letter to the University

8:21

f Miami, newspaper, the hurrican

8:21

. And I'm thinking, well, I don

8:26

t know how that's gonna help m

8:26

. But okay. So I go ahead, and

8:29

I write it. And then t

8:29

e University of Miami says to m

8:33

, the hurricane, the newspap

8:33

r says, Why don't you just write

8:38

a column on it? I thought, oka

8:38

, I'll do that. So I went ahe

8:44

d and wrote a column because a l

8:44

t of people with titles, we

8:51

e telling me how I was making

8:51

a big deal over nothing. As

8:55

a matter of fact, you're not gon

8:55

a believe this. But even oth

8:58

r students were like, well, it

8:58

s not a big deal to go to t

9:02

e clinic and come back, then

9:02

I found out that there w

9:06

s actually a bathroom I could u

9:06

e on the second floor of t

9:10

e Student Union Building. But

9:10

I had to go, you know, push

9:13

a little farther than everyo

9:13

e else. And no one thought th

9:17

t was a problem either. I

9:17

m thinking in my brain. Why don

9:23

t you go a little further? Why

9:23

do I have to, I'm the one in

9:27

he wheelchair. Why do I have to

9:27

ake more steps more actions to

9:33

et what you get for nothing?

9:37

But you know, we'll let it go.

9:37

So I wrote an article in the

9:40

newspaper. And I remembered that

9:40

instead of getting all "good for

9:45

you, you know way to go". I

9:45

actually got more heat about it.

9:49

In the end, I had written surfs

9:49

up dude, because I said I was

9:54

going to cause waves. Because by

9:54

now I'm really getting upset. I

9:57

started noticing how many others

9:57

things on campus Were not

10:02

accessible to me. I was actually

10:02

struggling. And I didn't even

10:07

know that I was struggling when

10:07

I didn't have to be, for

10:12

example, you know, sliding

10:12

doors, automatic doors, they

10:17

should be everywhere. Why do I

10:17

have to struggle to open doors?

10:22

or Why do I have to walk slowly

10:22

so that when I see somebody who

10:27

can walk that's going in the

10:27

same direction, and hoping,

10:30

okay, they're going to open the

10:30

door, the same time I get there,

10:34

and then the door for me. Yeah,

10:34

that's what I'll do. And then I

10:38

realized now, decades later,

10:38

that I was actually training

10:44

myself to do what I needed,

10:44

based on the actions of others.

10:52

So it would be convenient for

10:52

them. So it's not about me

10:56

struggling opening that door,

10:56

it's about me going slow enough.

11:01

And yet fast enough, sure that

11:01

whoever gets to that door first,

11:05

will open it for me. Because the

11:05

doors was so heavy. Also, at the

11:11

University of Miami, there was a

11:11

huge drop, a long ramp made out

11:17

of like tile show, when it

11:17

rains, it would be dangerous for

11:21

me to go down that. But once

11:21

again, I did my very best to

11:26

avoid going down that area. So

11:26

in a way I was using these

11:31

outdoing actions that made my

11:31

life easier at the moment. But

11:37

also I was missing out on

11:37

things. Because because they

11:41

weren't available to me, like

11:41

everyone else. Interesting, but

11:45

true. Then I said, You know

11:45

what, Nathash, just go have a

11:50

good time. Sure, go to a

11:50

football game. That's very cool.

11:53

I'm gonna go to a football game.

11:53

And I wanted to get a ticket. I

11:57

saw everybody lined up. So I got

11:57

on that line too. Because we're

12:02

all going to go to a football

12:02

game. When it was my turn. First

12:06

of all, the counter is way up

12:06

there. so now, I feel like a

12:11

little girl asking for

12:11

permission to go to a football

12:15

game. And the person says to me,

12:15

Oh, no, we don't have a ticket

12:20

for you. I'm like, What? Why

12:20

not? if you want a ticket, then

12:26

you can go with your ID. But if

12:26

you want to bring someone you

12:30

have to give them a ticket, you

12:30

have to go all the way to the I

12:34

think it was like the athletic

12:34

department building. And you

12:38

actually have to take a car to

12:38

get there because no one can

12:41

push all that. well, I can't do

12:41

that. Why do I have to go all

12:47

the way over there? I'm gonna go

12:47

because you know, you need, you

12:51

know, special tickets. And I'm

12:51

thinking, why don't you have any

12:55

for me there? And they go, No,

12:55

I'm so sorry. Now you can tell.

13:02

I'm not the happiest person. It

13:02

is my freshman year, I'm really

13:06

getting aggravated. And I don't

13:06

know what to do about it. Well,

13:11

that's when I realized that the

13:11

more I told people about the

13:16

situation. And the more I told

13:16

the right people about the

13:21

situation, the more ideas a

13:21

gathering about what to do about

13:27

the situation, not about

13:27

complaining. It's about telling

13:31

people what the circumstances

13:31

are, what the conflict is, and

13:37

that you have a desire to change

13:37

this. And I'm thinking I have

13:42

done this before. This is not

13:42

the first time that a school or

13:46

institution of education has

13:46

given me problems. Like Okay,

13:53

I'll handle it. But I was angry. I'm going to

13:55

tell you that now, as a

13:58

freshman, I was . Well, lo and

13:58

behold, I go to my composition

14:07

writing course I think it's

14:07

called. And it's a freshman

14:10

course. And my professor Adrian

14:10

Peever. Goes ahead and tells the

14:16

class that we're going to do a

14:16

research paper. And you know

14:21

what, I hate research papers.

14:21

And I hate them because I hate

14:24

researching. I just don't like

14:24

looking through all that stuff.

14:29

To this day. I avoid anything

14:29

that had a lot of, you know,

14:32

forms to fill out and research.

14:32

Oh, I don't like it. When he

14:37

said that. I'm like, Okay, this

14:37

is gonna be fun. not fun at all.

14:43

And I didn't know what to do it

14:43

on. Because I was getting too

14:46

angry, having to deal with the

14:46

bathroom issue and all the other

14:51

issues that I was finding. I was

14:51

actually starting to get worried

14:55

about Should I drink water

14:55

should I not drink water? Then I

15:00

have to leave the classroom. And

15:00

then I have to go to the

15:02

bathroom. I've got to push all

15:02

the way to the Student Union,

15:07

because all the other buildings

15:07

were the same way with new

15:10

bathroom. So that was really on

15:10

my mind more than this research

15:15

paper. So I'm thinking, What am

15:15

I gonna do? Well, Professor

15:21

Peter said to me, You know, I,

15:21

you know, he told me he read the

15:27

article from the newspaper. And

15:27

I'm like, yeah, he said, you

15:34

know, that you can get the

15:34

blueprints for the entire

15:38

college. And I'm like, really?

15:38

Because, yeah. I said, How? So

15:44

he told me, you know, ask the

15:44

plantations on people like that.

15:48

And I go, Oh, okay. And then he

15:48

said, you can do your research

15:53

paper, on the laws regarding

15:53

this. And I'm thinking which law

16:01

like, I have absolutely no idea

16:01

which law he's talking about.

16:06

And he says, Go, research it,

16:06

okay. And he lives and you can

16:13

do your paper on that. And I'm

16:13

thinking, What? That is so

16:19

awesome. Because now, I'm going

16:19

to get a grade, the same time,

16:25

I'm going to find a way to

16:25

resolve the situation. I loved

16:29

it also felt happy And I said,

16:29

Yes. Great, fantastic. So here

16:35

we go. So I've got a doctor

16:35

flipsie, who should have answers

16:40

for me. And I've got a writing

16:40

professor who knows nothing

16:46

about the law, or my right. And

16:46

he told me "go for it". "Here

16:50

you go. I'm giving you an

16:50

opening, an opportunity to do

16:56

this". Amazing. The people that

16:56

enter your life when you need

17:01

them. I said, Okay, so went

17:01

ahead, and I found out about

17:06

section 504 of the

17:06

Rehabilitation Act, which states

17:11

that any institution whether

17:11

it's private, or public, if they

17:17

receive federal money, they must

17:17

make everything (back in the day

17:22

they said handicap) with

17:22

handicap accessible. Okay. And

17:27

I'm thinking, huh, University of

17:27

Miami's private, but they get

17:32

federal money. Well, we've got a

17:32

problem here, . And there was my

17:38

key, opening a door to get a

17:38

door so I may use the bathroom.

17:47

Like everyone else. It was

17:47

exhilarating. Because I was

17:53

empowered. I said, I'm taking

17:53

action. I'm doing this. Now, of

17:58

course, at the age of 18. I'm

17:58

not talking like that age 18.

18:01

I'm saying, Yes. I'm excited.

18:01

Now. Now they're gonna have to

18:08

give me that door. Yeah, but not

18:08

to give me that door. The way

18:12

that my high school had to put

18:12

ramps everywhere. The way that

18:17

my sixth grade elementary school

18:17

had to put me in the correct

18:20

classroom, Oh, my gosh, that all

18:20

I kept thinking, Why do I have

18:26

to fight for these things? Why

18:26

me? You know what? I don't know

18:33

either. Why me? And that's

18:33

something that we all struggle

18:38

with. When we're giving a major

18:38

challenge. We started saying Why

18:43

me? Now, story doesn't end. Although

18:45

the episode will soon. Because I

18:51

want you to think about a couple

18:51

of things. I want you to think

18:54

about how there's a status quo

18:54

at this major educational

19:00

institution. And how no one

19:00

before me was saying anything

19:05

about it. As a matter of fact,

19:05

I'm not gonna throw anybody

19:09

under the bus. But there was a

19:09

very famous spinal cord injury

19:17

person who was a student at the

19:17

University, and the person never

19:25

did anything to help the

19:25

University of Miami, become more

19:31

accessible. Now, that's for a

19:31

future episode. But I want you

19:36

to think why why did that person

19:36

who probably had more pull than

19:42

me do nothing? And why am I

19:42

struggling? Basically alone,

19:50

actually until there's a group

19:50

that I gather, and I find a

19:56

little team who actually feels

19:56

like me. For now, this is my

20:01

takeaway. My takeaway is that

20:01

all status quo can be broken.

20:08

And while Dr. flipsie was a

20:08

really nice guy, he wasn't doing

20:13

what I needed. For me. I don't

20:13

know why. I know that you meet

20:19

unlikely allies, like Professor

20:19

Peever, who come in at the right

20:24

time, and allow you to find the

20:24

answer. And they're willing to

20:31

help you in their own way.

20:31

Sometimes we want help from

20:36

people, but we want it in our

20:36

way, we have to realize that

20:39

sometimes we're going to get

20:39

help from people, but not the

20:44

way we think we're gonna get it.

20:44

Last thing that I want you to

20:48

think about for today, is that

20:48

this struggle that I'm going to

20:53

be telling you about isn't over.

20:53

There are still institutions all

21:00

over the country, and maybe

21:00

around the world. But I'm

21:04

speaking about the United States

21:04

of America, where we have

21:07

section table four of the

21:07

Rehabilitation Act, and the

21:12

Americans with Disability Act.

21:12

Yet still, there are students on

21:17

campuses, all over the country,

21:17

who have to fight for just the

21:23

idea of going to the bathroom.

21:23

This is today's episode, what

21:29

I'd like you to hear is, I would

21:29

like you to go to

21:33

Nathashaalvarez.com. and

21:33

download a free PDF of the five

21:41

actions that I take when I'm

21:41

going through major struggles in

21:46

life. And I'm going to see

21:46

whether you can spot that I have

21:50

done those things in the story

21:50

that I'm telling you now.

21:56

Remember, I'm doing this, to

21:56

leave something behind for my

22:00

nephew and my niece. And also to

22:00

make sure that there are other

22:05

people out there who understand

22:05

that they're not alone in the

22:10

struggles that they have.

22:10

understand. And I want to share

22:18

with you what I did to get it

22:18

done. So until next time, when

22:25

we continue this story, because

22:25

oh yeah, it's gonna get better.

22:31

And you're gonna hear how I

22:31

ticked off a bunch of people.

22:37

And you're gonna find out what I

22:37

did get done, what I didn't get

22:40

done. Because that's the way

22:40

life goes. In the meantime, go

22:47

to Natashaalvarez.com and make

22:47

sure that you are living your

22:52

life, one audacious moment at a

22:52

time. Talk to you soon.