The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. Finding this group was how I developed some strong positive relationships with other people who have epilepsy.
Truth be told, I first discovered it when I was trying to find a new job. Some people advised that one way to find a new opportunity is to volunteer with an organization. I won’t go into all of the details about why or what you can achieve (in large part because I don’t remember those details). I thought about some things that really resonate with me and… “I have epilepsy!” I found the website linked above and filled out a volunteer form online, offering my assistance with Adult Activities. At that point, I was thinking that I could network with people, get a tour of their office, maybe even get a job there!
That’s not what happened. What happened is one of the things I hate most in the world: I waited.
I don’t remember how long it took the activities director to get back to me, but when I eventually got a response from Tammy, the activities chair, she was busy getting ready for Camp Oz, a youth camp they run every summer that gives kids a chance to enjoy a camping experience in an environment that’s safe for kids with epilepsy. She had a week to finish preparing for camp, then a week of camp, then a week of recovering from camp. And have I mentioned that I hate waiting?
But it ended up being one of the best things I’ve ever done. It never led to a source of employment, but it led to meeting a lot of really fun people and having a lot of really fun experiences. (Several years of volunteering later, one of those experiences was helping out at Camp Oz for a few days.)
I have a multitude of stories from working with the organization and I’m sure I’ll be sharing some of those in the future, but part of the reason I’m bringing it up in the first place is because I know I’ve expressed plenty of frustration and negativity on this blog up to this point. That said, I don’t want it to seem like epilepsy has been a giant black cloud hovering over my entire existence. I don’t go to bed and pray to God every night to fix my brain and make my epilepsy go away. Aside from the fact that I’ve accepted that “me, myself, my brain and I” are a package deal, not having epilepsy means I never would have reached out to EFMN in the first place. Given the two options, being involved with the Epilepsy Foundation has definitely been worth it.