22q deletion syndrome doesn't define who I am!

About Me

I'm Nicole

Birthday is May 10, 1986

Raised & Born in Burlington, Iowa

I have 22q deletion syndrome

I like the color blue. 💙

I love being with my family & friends. I spend tons of time with them all. I am loved by many and always get invited to hang out with everyone. I'm a good person and love the person I've become. I've come such a long ways with having 22q and couldn't be more proud of myself. I use to be so shy and ashamed of myself because of my disability. Kids are cruel and even adults can be too. The reasons why I hated myself so much when I was younger because of mean people. I'm older now and I stand up for myself and I don't care what people think. Now with the I don't care what people think of me, but sometimes that's so hard to stay positive about. Days are harder then others, but I try my best to stay positive because having a negative mind won't get no where in life.
I also want to have this kind of mindset because of my son I want to be a good role model for him. Sometimes he can have a negative mind. And it really gets to me because he such a good kid with such s great caring heart. Also having a good mindset will have others look up to you as well.  I want to inspire others who are like I am. It's not easy living with a syndrome and 22q deletion is a very unknown syndrome. Not a lot of people know about it. Don't let this define who you are. God created us this way for a reason. Thats why I did the article for the Hawkeye newspaper about who I am and stop the bullying. I want to spread awareness of who I am because not everyone knows about 22q and so many people bully others for who they are.
I work a lot. I'm a shift leader at Culvers and I've came such a long ways. With my disability it has taught me so much about myself. I love who I have become with my job and how far I've come with it. I never imagined my life this way for who I am. My disability has taught me not to care about what others think of me especially at my job. I will definitely stick up for myself because I am me for a reason. At my job I can do drive, register, fryers and I can open front plus I can do prep as well. My favorite part of my job is seeing the kids faces when they bring up there scoopie tokens for free custard. Seeing there eyes bright up it's amazing! I love seeing my regulars as well. You get to know your customers when they come in and you remember there orders. It's great!
I've had I'd say 3 jobs in my life. I started at Culvers before 2009 that's when I had my son Jayden. Then I was there for about a year or so then I ended up going to McDonalds for s few years. With Culvers I went to vocational rehabilitation to get help finding a job because of who I am. I was in my twenties I think and I was so scared and shy to do it by myself. Culver's was my first actual job in my life. It was scary for me because I had no idea what the real world was like, but none of us do when we get out there. It's scary at first, but then you get the hang of it as you get older. I was scared because of my speech and my learning disability. The first time at culvers I only ran the food and I knew how to set the food and clean tables. I tried the cashier, but it was scary and I had problems counting money.
     When I went to McDonald's I did that all on my own. I didn't have help from anyone. I was so proud of myself for that. I was nervous, but I sure did it. I did the same thing at McDonalds as well. I just took the food out and cleaned the tables to. I was there for maybe a year or so. I don't know I just didn't like it and I didn't seem to be going anywhere with it. That's when I ended up at Holiday Inn Hotel for five years. I loved that job. I also didn't need any help getting that job. I knew the boss there and got the job right away. I loved it because I was by myself cleaning rooms. I didn't have to deal with anyone. They laid off people and I did raise my hand and was hoping they call me back, but they never did. Instead we had to reapply back and start all over. Which I think is crap.
     That's when I ended up taking time off for a few months, but then I was getting so bored and needed to find a job. I needed something to make some money. Then I ended back at Culvers. I've learned so much there and I'm so proud of myself for how far I've come. I'm so blessed to have such great managers and coworkers to help me get this far. I know how to do drive, the register, fryers and trained on buns which I'm not the greatest at that, but I know that I will get there with practice. I have been there for over a year now and love it. I have my days, but we all do and I'm happy where I'm at. I get my hours that I want and they work around my schedule if needed. I just love it.
I love the outdoors. I'm always outside when it's nice. I love going on hikes and to the parks.
I absolutely love movies. My favorite are horror movies. I'm a fan of Scream, Nightmare On Elmstreet, Friday the 13, and Halloween. I also like romantic, superhero, adventure, comedy, Disney  and so many more movies. We are huge fans of Spiderman.... I love to go out and hang with my friends. I do that when I can and sometimes I love being home as well especially if I'm working a lot and tired. We are always having a good time no matter what. I love my friends that I have. They're amazing. I'm always invited to something and I love them for that. I didn't have many friends at all when I was younger because of who I am so I didn't invited to much at all. I'm loved by many!
I love to write. I've written two books I've published on Amazon and now on my third book I'm writing. I love to color, draw, read anything to do with my hands when I'm watching tv. When I'm watching tv I'm always having to do something besides just sit there. I like to write short poems and I try writing songs as well. I've always loved to write ever since I can remember. This is why I started doing these books because it's something I love to do. I wanna do so much more as well. I want to do kids books and adults books and books about 22q as well. I want to show you just because of who you are doesn't mean you can't do anything because you can do anything you want just got to put your heart into it.