Keynote
As you may recall, I spoke at OCALICONLINE last November with my public speaking mentor and family friend, Dr. Brooks, and Noah's soccer coach, Katie. Speaking at OCALICON (as it was called pre-Covid) was a goal that Dr. Brooks and I had been working toward since late summer 2019, shortly after I started speaking in her inclusion class at OSU. Our OCALICONLINE session was pre-recorded, so Dr. Brooks, Katie, and I spent the session answering questions in the chat box. This was stressful because when a question was asked, I felt like I had to answer it faster than I could type so that the audience could pay attention to my pre-recorded counterpart.
As soon as our session ended, I took a deep breath. I was not even able to breathe out before Dr. Brooks called me. I assumed she would just congratulate me on my first conference and debrief. While that was part of it, after she had congratulated me and we had debriefed, Dr. Brooks said, "So I have a proposal for you…."
According to their website, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is "the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the success of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents." Dr. Brooks just so happens to be the current president of the Ohio chapter of CEC. Her immediate predecessor, who we will call Ellen, came to our OCALICONLINE session. The board was planning this summer's conference, and Ellen headed the operation. In the middle of our session, Ellen texted Dr. Brooks, saying that she thought I would be the perfect keynote speaker! When Dr. Brooks told me, I completely lost my mind and immediately accepted the offer.
The conference was last Friday, June 8th, at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. On June 7th, Dr. Brooks picked me up at 1:00, and we drove to Canton. We got to the hotel around 3:20. Side note- I had my own hotel room, and the CEC Ohio Council paid for it, which was super cool! After we had checked in, we drove to Malone to help set up. When we got to campus, Dr. Brooks introduced me to the rest of the board, including another one of the speakers, who we will call Amy. I've known Amy since 2014 because she is the special-ed director at my high school, The Graham School (TGS), and its two sister schools.
After setting up and decorating, we went to a nice restaurant, and I got to know the board. Once we returned to the hotel, I took a shower. Afterward, Paige called me, and we talked about the Cousin Simple show she and my family had just gone to, and she hyped me up for the next day.
Dr. Brooks and I got to Malone at 8:00 on the morning of the conference. I spent the next hour mentally preparing myself. Fortunately, the conference started with a very quick yoga session. After yoga, Dr. Brooks introduced me, and I began speaking. I got really into the presentation, and honestly, I don't remember actually giving the talk. When I had finished, I went to my table to sell books (which I sold a ton of), and a woman walked up to me.
"Hi Mitchell," she said, shaking my hand, "my name is Jo Hannah, and I'm the head of the Special Ed Department at the Ohio Department of Education." After I greeted her, Jo Hannah continued, "Do you know someone named Sandra Ulibarri?"
"Yeah, she's my mom!" I replied.
"I went to high school with her!" she exclaimed.
Connecting with someone as influential as Jo Hannah is pretty cool, but it's not the only notable thing that happened. First of all, I meet a ton of other great people too, and I've made a lot of connections. Secondly, CEC of Ohio has offered me a spot on their board, and I am in the process of accepting! My goal for this season is to figure out what my "dream life" looks like and take steps toward getting there. I think this is a pretty big step, don't you think?
Have A Greattastic Day, and Be Safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
You did an amazing job at the conference and congrats on being offered a position on the CEC board!
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