Written by Paul Fraumeni
Logan Pickells is on two journeys.
One is about learning. He’s a passionate third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), majoring in history.
Why is he so fascinated by history? Like so many people who are devoted to something, he can’t quite put a finger on why history draws him in.
“It’s really just a feeling I have. You often hear about scientists who have a drive for their work but they don’t know why. As a history major, I’m the same.”
But, if pressed, he can say what he gets from studying history: “Answers to why things happened the way they did.”
His personal focus in history comes with a broad swath of the past—from the Enlightenment in the late 17th and much of 18th centuries to World Wars I and II and the Cold War.
He really knows his stuff and speaks easily about Enlightenment philosophers and models of government as well as the tragedy of the World Wars. It’s obvious how history delights him and how happy he is to explain what knows. He’s equally fascinated by archaeology and feels that his work in that discipline will “enhance my capabilities as a historian." His dream is to participate in an archaeological excavation and use his findings in a book or research paper.
In fact, Logan plans to become a professor and with his talent (he’s a brilliant student with a 3.71 CGPA and earned a 97-per-cent grade on a recent paper on classical mythology) and drive, you can bet he’ll reach that destination.
The harder journey, which has taken up all of his 24 years, has been getting people to treat him as “just Logan, not Logan the disabled guy.”
He has autism, which results in a serious fear of social situations and generalized anxiety. That’s hard enough to manage, but it was the treatment he received from others while growing up in Brampton, Ontario, that really saddened Logan.
“The most difficult thing has been coming to terms with how my disability affects my daily life and planning. I was bullied in school and benched in sports just for being different. That disheartened me. If my early years had been more positive, things would have been better.”
Logan isn’t a complainer. He gets things done. And one of his key areas of action is taking what he experienced and advocating.
“As a result of what I lived through, I want to champion others so they don’t have to experience what I did. Adversity can help us grow. Still, living with a disability is difficult enough without the cruelty some people can show.”
That’s why he’s become a busy volunteer with organizations like ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development and Easter Seals.
“I assist Easter Seals with direction on how they can support disabled youth. These are issues that are near and dear to my heart. I want the next generation to have it easier than I did. I want the gaps to be filled. I want more opportunities provided. I want society to understand that we bring unique perspectives and strengths that should be valued and developed.”
Logan has known what it’s like to be left out. So he’s especially thankful for those who have supported him—doctors, therapists, teachers, coaches, disability organizations, and friends. He is especially grateful to his family—his dad, Clint, brother, Liam, sister, Teagan, and his mom, Wanda. “She’s been my biggest champion. I was never alone because of her. She’s been everything to me.”
He’s now eager to go deeper in his studies at UTM and he hopes others heading for university or college will find a path that they love as much as he does his.
“Pick what you love. If you just go to university just to get a degree for a career that you really don’t care about, it will be hard. But if you love what you’re doing, it won’t feel like work. That’s what I’m doing.”
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