MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — You can't tell from looking at her, but A'leah Monk was born with EDS, or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a disability that affects the skin, joints, and blood vessels.
"It makes it harder that people don't understand as much. I can try and explain it to them, but they may not understand the things I can and cannot do since it's so internal," she said.
One of the symptoms she lives with is chronic pain, making it hard for her to walk, but none of those things are stopping her from going off to Georgia College & State University this fall.
She's already using her disability to help other students before she gets there, forming the school's first organization for disabled students.
"The Disability Unity and Awareness Club -- it's about building unity between disabled students who may otherwise not have anywhere to go to and talk with other disabled students, building awareness for people who don't know about different disabilities," she explains.
The school's enrollment is just under 6,000 students, and the student disability resource center says at least 500 have some kind of disability. Emily Jarvis, the executive director of student engagement, says A'leah's work is inspiring.
"For it to be something like disability, which can feel very taboo for students. Some students may not want to discuss those things openly, and they may want to try and hide it. I think that's also really brave to put that out in the open," Jarvis said.
Now that she's kicked the door open, A'Leah doesn't plan to slow down anytime soon. The psychology major says she has plans to work on several other projects on campus to keep the good work going.