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Click Here — Learn more about school and watch thousands of SCI videos on SPINALpedia!

Our founder Josh was injured while attending undergraduate studies, but he still went on to get his law degree. Advice from Josh in his own words:

Since my spinal cord injury, I have focused on the philosophy that the body does not control the mind, but the mind controls the body. With this mentality, it is important to focus on educating the mind as much as possible. School increases the chances of an individual to truly develop skills that will allow them to pursue a job career at the next level.

Another important note is to understand that school will always be there but that the most vital thing is taking care of one’s health needs. My injury occurred during the summer transitioning into my sophomore year of college. I took about a five-month break from school and ended up taking one class at a community college to test the water whether or not I was ready. I found out that I was ready but only with small increments.

Since then I’ve never taken a full course load like I did before my injury. I always leave enough time for the education of my body which is exercise. The first class after my injury was a poetry course, if you’d like to read some of the poetry click here.

School is definitely an expensive time commitment. There are different state programs called vocational programs which will do anything and everything in their power to help an individual with a disability get back in the workforce. One of the important factors of being a valuable asset to the workforce is an education and they understand this. They help individuals achieve and pursue goals pertaining to their specific career choice or major.

Distance learning is also an option. For health and transportation reasons, this is a great alternative. Learn more: Distance Learning Resource Page.

SCI Scholarships

There are hundreds of scholarships available for people with spinal cord injuries. We’re sharing four excellent scholarships lists for people with SCI that you absolutely need to read, as well as a few more individual scholarships not yet added to these lists. Good luck and remember, pay close attention to the application deadlines, as they are critical.

Scholarship Lists

• Financial Resources for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities from Strive (40+ listed)
• 25 Great Scholarships for Paraplegics from Top 10 Online Colleges
• Scholarships Available For People with a Disability from United Spinal Association (24 listed)
• Spinal Cord Injury Support & Financial Assistance from SCI-Info-Pages (10 listed)

Individual Scholarships

• Will2Walk Foundation: They award scholarships up to $5,000 per individual with a SCI. Application deadlines are May 1st and October 1st.
• SpinalCord.com Scholarships: This site is run by the law firm Swope & Rodante. Two scholarships in the amount of $2,500 are awarded annually. The deadlines are June 15th and November 15th.