My name is Chloe Sutterfield. I am 15 years old. I go to school at King William high school. I play a lot of sports like soccer and football, I do football with River City buddyball. I do soccer with Sportable. This past year I was the youth female athlete and was put in the Sportable hall of fame. I also ski with Therapeutic Adventures.
In the summer I go to two camps, Easter Seals and Victory Junction. I also go surfing at Virginia beach with a group called Life Rolls On. When I have down time I love to write songs, record my songs, and play guitar. My favorite band is the Beatles. I just love music and want to be a musician for the rest of my life.
Having a disability has impacted my life by making me work harder, but I look at it as a gift from God. Yeah, it might affect my body but everyday I tell people “Don’t look at this as a bad thing. Look at it as a special gift.” I think people judge us before they get to know us. At school it’s hard to work in class, because I look on the board and I understand some of the information but not all of it. Sometimes I can’t keep up, because it’s too much. I have a lot of friends that help me out and care about me, we have fun. I think they look beyond my disability and see that I’m just a normal kid who loves music and playing video games.
My goals are to make music and heal the world! That was a song by Michael Jackson that inspired me, but I actually want and am going to do it. God knows what he’s doing when he puts us on earth. When I move out of my parents’ house I’m probably going to need a roommate to help me out, maybe one of my good friends. But that won’t be until after college. One of my strategies is to stay calm and don’t get mad. I’ve always thought of my disability as a gift. I work hard in therapy. I try to focus in school. I play a lot of sports. I do all that, because I want to make everybody proud. Music drives me, because that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.