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Student with Cerebral Palsy Accepted to Local College to Continue Video Production Dreams

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Damien Brooks is a student in the digital media program at the Wexford Missaukee Career Technical Center in Cadillac. This program allows students like Damien to fuel their creativity and channel their inner storyteller. Damien is also inspiring his classmates along the way.

Damien was born with Cerebral Palsy and was told he would never be able to walk or talk. Today he does both and is thriving both personally and professionally. “It’s hard sometimes to adapt to society but through 18 years I found a way around and ways that I can do stuff independently,” says Damien.

You can find Damien directing films and using editing software- proving that he is capable of anything he sets his mind to. Rich Spicer, one of Damien’s instructors says, “Never judge a book by its cover. He is capable of so much more than you think he is when you first get to know him or see him.”

Damien struggles with fine motor skills when it comes to editing but he is willing to put in the extra work. Rich explains, “He has to work probably 5-10 times as hard to edit and use the mouse and the editing software as somebody else does.”

With a can-do attitude, people are starting to follow in Damien’s footsteps. “That’s inspirational for everyone who’s in the classroom with him. There are other able-bodied kids who have come through our class and can look at him and say, ‘you know what? I can do this. If Damien can do this and do it well, there’s no reason why I can’t’,” explains Rich.

With this mindset, Damien was recently accepted into Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, which is a dream he never thought would become a reality.

Damien says, “Getting accepted to NMC made me feel successful because I accomplished something that most people said I couldn’t accomplish!”

 

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