Last summer, I was accepted into the 2021 Rising Voices of Narcolepsy program.
Deciding to speak up
In October 2020, when I first decided to speak up publicly about my narcolepsy diagnosis, I knew that it was important to me to share my story. Hearing the personal stories of other people with narcolepsy helped me greatly after my diagnosis. More than that, though, it was hearing someone’s personal story of living with narcolepsy that made me consider that there might be something wrong in the first place.
When I found Project Sleep and learned about the Rising Voices program, I knew immediately that I wanted to participate. I eagerly waited for applications to open, and was elated when I was accepted for the 2021 session.
Challenges
In the time between application and acceptance, I was hired to work on a film. A little background: I work as a camera assistant in the film industry. I’m freelance, so each film is a new job, and I usually don’t know what jobs I’m going to end up on until maybe a month ahead. Once I’m on a job, that usually means it’s the only thing I’ll be doing for that time period. 12 hour days plus my commute time with no regularity to when we start or finish each day means I don’t have time or brain power for much else. Even my weekends are spoken for – trying to reset my sleep schedule and catch up on all of my regular chores and responsibilities.
This particular film was going to shoot through the entirety of the Rising Voices of Narcolepsy program.
I panicked – How in the world was I going to find the time to do this? The training meant a lot to me, and I wanted to give it my all. I had no intentions of just rushing through the assignments. I wanted to attend the video calls, give the lessons my full attention, and create the best presentation of my story that I could.
As the program approached, I started to make a plan. I was going to try to get ahead of the lessons when I could, so that I would have wiggle room when weeks were more difficult. I planned to break things up into small chunks, sometimes working as little as 15 minutes at a time. I tried to collect resources and organize myself as much as I could ahead of time.
Success
And somehow, I did it. While I didn’t make it to all of the weekly meetings and ultimately needed extra time for my final presentation, I still made it work.
I’m proud of myself, and so glad that I stuck with it. I learned so much about how to connect with audiences and tell my story in a compelling, authentic way that is engaging and relatable. I feel confident in my story and well-prepared to share it. It means a lot to me to have the chance to impact someone else’s life in the same way that previous Rising Voices speakers did for me.
I hope that you’ll have the opportunity to see me share my story sometime soon!
Interested in supporting the Rising Voices program? All proceeds from the Sleep In fundraiser go to Project Sleep, the organization that runs the training. You can donate here
If you’re interested in participating in the Rising Voices program or hiring an RVN speaker, you can find more information at the Rising Voices of Narcolepsy page
If you’re interested in my presentation, you can reach out to me from the Contact page