Growing up as a wheelchair user in the rural community of Crawfordsville, Ind., James Nichols didn’t know a lot of other people with disabilities.
“I worked myself extra hard in high school to kind of overachieve in a sense to prove myself,” recalls Nichols.
Despite setting ambitious goals, Nichols didn’t always feel like he had accessible learning opportunities. He worked hard to address those inequities, including educating the advisors of his Southmont FFA Chapter about accessibility issues that might prevent him from using barns or contest sites.
“The amazing thing was that Indiana FFA and the leaders and my own chapter went above and beyond to help me figure out accessibility,” he says. “Being able to have the conversations about accessibility really made me want to ensure that individuals with different levels of disabilities were able to participate in activities.”
Nichols embraced his role as a disability advocate. After graduating from Southmont Senior High School, Nichols enrolled in the social work program at Ball State University with the goal of helping others with disabilities pursue their passions.
“I would absolutely love to go into a position where I can work with middle school students, high school students or even college students to help them access accommodations and understand that there are ways that they can further their education or go into a trade,” he says. “There are more opportunities than sometimes we let ourselves believe there are.”
Nichols, who recently received his American FFA Degree, is president of the college’s disability awareness group and accepted a summer internship with Ball State Office of Disability Services, a department that ensures all students have accessible learning opportunities.
Nichols will spend the summer responding to questions about available accommodations, attending freshman orientations and connecting students with disabilities to the resources they need to succeed in college. He’s excited to put the FFA Living to Serve motto into action.
“Having a disability, I never felt like I would be able to give back and serve my community in the way that some of my able-bodied peers could, but FFA taught me that [Living to Serve] could mean so many different things,” he says. “Being able to fall in love with giving back to the community showed me that I always want to be able to learn new things and meet new people and help them and the world we live in.”
