The story of Nathanael
Hi, I’m Nathanael, I was born with a rare muscle disorder, at the time it was so rare that they didn’t have a name for it nor did they know exactly what it was. They labeled it “congenital myopathy.” Later in my 20s I learned that I had “congenital fiber-type disproportion.” In any case I grew up knowing nothing but the fact that I am weaker than everyone else and have roughly 50% of the muscles than I should. I felt it. Being always weaker and smaller than everyone else forces you onto the sidelines in even the easiest of physical activities. Even though I always wanted to run and play with all the other kids my age, I learned to occupy myself, and when things got tough I also learned that if you don’t give up things get better. I attribute a lot of the coping skills to my parents who were the best supporters anyone could hope for. They took care of me and gave me what I needed, but never babied me or made me feel like I was limited from anything, my mother always told me “work smarter, not harder,” and I could get any job done if I kept that in mind. I grew to understand that I could use my ability to cope with my own difficulties to help others who also had difficulties. Maybe they were not the same as my own, but I learned a lot of skills to get around problems that seemed impossible.
Now I have found my way out of a rural town in Montana of only 900 people, to living on my own in a university city of 8,000, then living in a city of over 2 million in another country. I have earned a BA degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, in English and Japanese, with honor, and I was a successful exchange student in Japan for nearly a year where I learned the language and helped tutor students in English. These are just a small portion of the many things I’ve learned which I could have only done if I found ways to learn that my limitations, whether understood or not, can’t stop me from being an asset to others and being successful in what I put myself to do. It’s my desire as well to teach others that they can be successful too. Granted, I still have many goals I want to achieve that seem very far off from now, but there is no limit to my limitation and have found strengths in my weakness.