Jason Hanson

Well I can't believe it's been 10 years already since I left High School seems like just yesterday I was graduating. I'm not going to lie and say that High School what's the best time of my life but still there are some things that I do miss some people I wish would have stayed in touch with me things I wish I'd done differently. You know as a Disabled former student of Durango High School I always found it strange taking classes with the " normal classmates" it's taking me a long time to realize this but there is no such thing as normal in fact High School is one of the most abnormal times of life because no one really knows who they are and we spend those four short years trying to figure out for ourselves Who We Are at the end of the day there is no easy answer. Since I left Durango I've been working as an artist at one of the local Opportunity Village campuses spending my day making paintings and dying scarves and ties it's very fulfilling for me and I enjoy it immensely

If there's one thing I truly regret it's the quote I left in the yearbook my senior year school at best is bittersweet and I left it at that I didn't take the time to talk about my personal struggle being a disabled student. I didn't talk about the special education program or how it helped me but I think if I could do that over again I would say that it's unwise to underestimate anyone for any reason because you never know how people can surprise you so always keep in mind that you're no better or worse than anyone else