My first op-ed was published in The Hartford Courant on March 9, 2025.

Below is a snippet. You can read the whole thing here.

At four, doctors said I’d never walk on my own. At 23, I had proved them wrong. In November 2019, I walked through the doors of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., to attend a federal job fair recruiting people with disabilities.

I had dreamt of federal service all my life. I wanted to give back to the country that gave me equal opportunity under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I left the fair brimming with optimism after meeting recruiters who told me I belonged in the federal government.

The coronavirus pandemic the following spring knocked me off my feet. But through persistence and determination, I graduated last summer from Boston College with my bachelor’s degree in environmental science. I hoped to apply for careers with the EPA or NOAA and lend my expertise to solving America’s pressing environmental problems.

That optimism came from knowing that the federal government has long been one of the few employers truly committed to disability hiring. In Connecticut, the federal government employed nearly 8,000 people as of 2017, with significant Department of Defense and Homeland Security investments, including the naval submarine base in Groton and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. These institutions, along with other federal agencies, have provided critical job opportunities for disabled civilians and veterans.

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