Marissa's Story

Excerpted from America's Afterschool Storybook at www.afterschoolalliance.org/storybook/gallery.cfm?CNT_ID=STRY9000057

I first joined the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology Program (DO-IT) in 1998 during my junior year of high school… [DO-IT] gave me a chance to experience what college would be like while I was still in high school: sleeping in a dorm, keeping my own schedule, going to lectures, engaging in hands-on activities like dissecting a sheep's heart, and having fun seeing a Mariner's game or visiting the Museum of Flight.

DO-IT has helped me achieve things I would have never gotten the chance to experience without it. They helped me get internships with Amazon.com and later with the Federal Aviation Administration, where I now work. DO-IT's mission is to help people with disabilities succeed in life and fulfill their dreams, no matter how big those dreams are!