Why Atlantis? I chose to job shadow at Atlantis because I wanted to have the opportunity to advocate for those who have disabilities and support their independence in the community.  I have always had a deep interest in helping those around me and advocating for minorities. Atlantis is a well-established nonprofit organization that offers a range of services designed to empower people with disabilities, and I wanted to learn firsthand about the impactful work they do. I am passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of others, and shadowing at Atlantis offered an incredible opportunity to learn from experienced professionals while contributing to a meaningful cause.

What I Did/Observed: While shadowing at Atlantis, I got the amazing opportunity to work with people with a variety of different disabilities. Over 70 percent of Atlantis's staff has a disability themselves, and it was really cool to get to work with them and see what the workforce would be like from their perspective. Mackenzie was the program leader during my shadow, but I actually got the opportunity to shadow multiple different people during my time there. I shadowed 3 different people who all have a disability and got to see their contributions to the company. I also got to work with people my age who had disabilities which was an incredible experience. I worked with about 10 individuals ages 10-18 who all had a disability of their own, and I got to collaborate, make projects, and work with all of them. I also learned a lot about the history of Atlantis, how it was founded and the significance of its creation. I learned about major history events that inspired the creation of Atlantis and why it has made such an impact in the world. 

At Atlantis, presentations are a huge part of their community. Once a week, a staff member gives a presentation, and I got to experience one myself. The presenter is named Amelia, and she is deaf. She gave a presentation to everyone about what life is like being deaf and I even got to learn a bit of sign language. She also taught us about how hearing aids work, and I learned about engineering which could be useful in the future. At the end of my internship there, I got to create my own presentation and give it to my peers and the staff of Atlantis. I created my presentation on what the word "advocacy" means to me, and used the knowledge I learned about Atlantis to create this. 

Moments that stood out: One moment that really stood out to me was the second day I was in the office. My peers and I got to have an online call with Anita Cameron, who is an empowering disability justice activist. Anita has been arrested 140 times for nonviolent disobedience fighting for the civil rights of disabled Americans. During this call, I asked why she continued to fight even after getting arrested so many times, and she said that she felt she "didn't have a choice". This call was truly inspiring and definitely was a highlight of my job shadow experience. 

Another moment that stood out to me was when I was touring the building. Inside of their office, they have a mini museum with different major history events that led to the creation of Atlantis. One of the major events that stood out to me was the capitol crawl. The Capitol Crawl was a 1990 protest in Washington, D.C., where over 60 disability rights activists, some in wheelchairs, crawled up the Capitol steps to highlight barriers faced by people with disabilities. This powerful demonstration helped raise awareness and gained support for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law later that year. Learning about this really inspired me and it was helpful to learn about the background knowledge of Atlantis.

People I Shadowed:

Takeaways: My main takeaways from job shadowing at Atlantis Community Inc. include a new perspective on disability, collaboration and inclusion, a new understanding of disability advocacy, empathy and awareness, and lastly, it helped me to figure out what I could potentially want to do in the future. Overall, job shadowing at Atlantis helped me to realize that I have a deep passion for helping and understanding others. This lead me to realize what potential careers I could do in the future. It helped me to realize that I would not want to do anything related to social work and human services as I don't see myself working in the particular field that they do at Atlantis, but I loved the environment and know I want to do something in the future to help others. Throughout my L2K experiences so far and the job shadow, I want to do something related to the body or physical therapy as I enjoy the idea of getting to work with others by helping them through empathy and communication.