Featured Person: Stephanie Woodward

Name: Stephanie Woodward

Disability: Physical disability

Host Destination: Ireland

Program Length: Four months

Program Type: Study abroad

About me: I had my sights set on Ireland from when I first considered study abroad. It turns out it was the perfect place to be. Dublin is striving to be the most accessible city in the world.

Was your international exchange experience arranged through an exchange organization? If so, what was the process like? 

I went abroad through a program offered by CIEE (www.ciee.org).

What were your concerns as you prepared to travel?

My resident director didn't know I used a wheelchair until I sent an email a week before I was coming. He was a great guy and told me, “I don't know what to do. I'm depending on you to help me to figure out what do, but I'm going to help you in any situation you need.”

What was your experience living in the host country? Please share your strategies for navigating abroad.

Being open about my abilities really helped me. I wasn't afraid to say, “Can you hold my hand? Because I'm obviously not going to make it up this hill.” On one excursion I had to climb 397 steps. It's never a self esteem boost to say, “Hey, I really can't do this,” but when you are honest about what you can do it's easier for everyone else to gauge how they can help you. Otherwise they could be doing more harm than good. I had many friends that were willing to hold my hand make sure I got to have the same experiences that they did.

Family and friends back home were also a big support for me. It's hard to get through tough times, especially if nobody understands what you are going through. At home, they understood the extent of my disability and what I am able to do. It's not always easy, but they encouraged me at times by saying, “Hey, you might want to ask for help.”

If you used assistive devices (e.g. cane, cochlear device, wheelchair), adaptive equipment or accommodations during your exchange program, were they helpful to you in your new environment?

My fellow study abroad students were very helpful. They were always willing to go an extra mile - if my wheelchair wasn't going to fit somewhere, they would be more than happy to backpack me around Dublin or anywhere else. The first time I realized that they cared was when we were doing a city tour of Dublin and my chair was not charging. I really wanted to get familiar with the city that I would be living in for four months. I went on the tour and afterwards a bunch of people were going to dinner, and I said I'd like to go. My resident director asked if my wheelchair battery was going to make it and someone I just met stepped up and said, “Don't worry if her wheelchair breaks down, we'll do whatever we need to do to get her back safely.” That made me feel a lot more confident about the rest of the trip.

Thinking back, what do you wish you had known before you began your journey? 

I never thought of the question, “Will my power wheelchair charge in Ireland?” When I arrived in Ireland, I realized they use a different electrical system, which was a big problem. Once I ran out of batteries I couldn't go anywhere. Luckily I had a great support system in Ireland. My resident director found a wheelchair store that had adapters. It all worked out!

What were the benefits of the experience, and how has your international experience informed your future plans?

Studying abroad has influenced me a lot. Before I went to Ireland, I felt like I was just a person that had a disability, but I didn’t relate to the disability community. I didn't know anyone else who had a disability. When I was in Ireland, everyone was so impressed and asked, “Why are you studying abroad if you have a disability?” I didn't think what I was doing was anything special. That got me really intrigued as to why other people with disabilities weren't studying abroad.

When I got back to America, I applied for an internship at the Regional Center for Independent Living. While there I told everyone about the amazing transportation system in Ireland with all of the accessible buses. After my internship I was hired as the Transportation System Advocate at the Center for Disability Rights, and now it's my job to make our public bus system better for people with disabilities. I was also accepted to into the Congressional Internship program through the American Association for People with Disabilities (www.aapd.org). I applied for this competitive internship and worked with the disability committee in Senator Tom Harkin’s office one summer in Washington, DC.

I feel like I'm really a part of the disability community now and I'm proud of that. I wouldn't have thought about my identity as a person with a disability if I hadn't studied abroad and seen the reactions. I was confident going in, but some of that was false confidence trying to mask the fact that I have disability. Now that I identify with the disability community, I am a much stronger person.

 Visit our "Featured People" page to meet other international exchange alum.