Long journey to college graduation almost over

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When Amanda Quisenberry receives her bachelor’s degree next month from Loyola University, her time as a student will end.

That’s going to take some getting used to, for Quisenberry has long considered herself a student, although some of the toughest lessons have taken place far from a classroom.

Graduating from college at 35 wasn’t the original plan. On that Veteran’s Day in 1997, the 17-year-old already had decided to leave Decatur to attend college and study journalism.

And then everything changed.

OPINION

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Quisenberry and two volleyball teammates were driving back from delivering a gift to their coach. A change in the road’s pavement triggered an accident. The two others suffered abrasions, but although Quisenberry didn’t have a scratch, she physically could not unhook her seatbelt.

She was paralyzed from the chest down.

Despite surgeries and complications, the honor roll student wasn’t going to give up on education. Tutors and teachers helped Quisenberry finish high school on time.

But the next few years were rough, admits mom Sarah, a former school psychologist who “stopped everything that night” to see to her daughter’s needs.

“Our family’s very good at rallying together,” says the younger Quisenberry, who also credits big time her mom’s loyal circle of friends.

Quisenberry’s love of learning continued despite not being able to figure out – initially – how to do college. She took acting classes and read voraciously. Mom is a film buff and while movies were good entertainment, they became more than that for Quisenberry. She started observing them from a critical standpoint, seeing them as a subject to write about and evaluate.

By 2005, mother (now divorced) and daughter had moved to Chicago. There’d be access to good medical care and mom thought finding employment that let her work from home was doable. (She’s now a real estate broker.)

The move to an Edgewater high-rise “rejuvenated my spirit,” says Quisenberry, and college “just seemed possible.”

She began taking classes at City Colleges of Chicago, Truman primarily.

Quisenberry — who must have a personal assistant with her at all times – could attend school only part-time, so what most complete in two years, she did in four.

No matter. She kept going.

She transferred to Loyola, eager to learn more about journalism. Again, being a quadriplegic meant Quisenberry had to do things a different way. Initially, anything she’d want to write had to be dictated to someone else. (Now, Dragon speech recognition software allows her to do her own dictation.)

John Slania, associate dean of Loyola’s School of Communication, has had Quisenberry in a couple classes and considers himself “a big fan of hers.” Despite the slow process Quisenberry must go through to write papers, Slania has been impressed by how well-written and clearly thought out they are.

Still, it hasn’t been easy. The van she’d used for years finally conked out for good and now she must rely on costly accessible car service. (Loyola has free shuttle bus service for students, but it’s not an option for Quisenberry.)

Her junior and senior “years” took five in actuality, but she continued, completing three internships and starting a blog that’s been her “refuge,” Esse (https://purpleaq.com/).

Finally, on May 12 Quisenberry will graduate – magna cum laude – and while she won’t be a student anymore, Quisenberry looks forward to taking on a new title: writer. Oh, and one more thing: attending graduation.

“I’m going to be putting on a cap and gown for the first time in my life.”

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