“Senior Kayden Cotten never expected to receive a scholarship. Let alone did he expect to go to college after high school. Kayden expected that his disability would hinder his future in education. It wasn’t until the DJ’s Hero scholarship committee reached out to him that he realized all the potential that was in front of him.
“The DJ’s Hero scholarship was something I was unfamiliar with before they reached out to me. But from what I know, it’s a scholarship given to students with disabilities like mine,” Cotten said.
With Cotton’s affiliations with people around Burke High School, he was unaware of the fact that he was under consideration for the scholarship.
“I was recommended by someone, and they then reached out to the committee. I had no idea I was getting the scholarship. I didn’t even receive the email yet. But I had gotten a pass to go to the library, and they surprised me there, telling me I had won the scholarship,” Cotten said.
Growing up with a disability wasn’t an easy thing for Cotten to deal with. Even though people with disabilities are not much different from people without them, most of his life, Cotten was not treated the same. Resulting in Cotten not thinking he’d ever get into a good school.
“It’s a struggle, you’re going to have people around you that discourage you, and that also encourage you. But there was a time when I was aware that people were telling me that I wouldn’t amount to anything, and I just kept going. My advice to others with this, if anything, is to use the discouraging comments as motivation to keep going,” Cotten said.
Although Cotten’s disability has made him think differently in the past, now that he has the scholarship and can attend college for free, Cotten sees everything in a new light.
“Before this, I wasn’t sure that I was going to go to college, because when you’re a person like me with a physical disability, there are certain things you can and can’t do. There needs to be special work environments. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make money. I didn’t know if it was worth it. But now that I’ve gotten multiple scholarships along with the DJ Hero’s scholarship, I’ve taken this as my sign. I’m one of the lucky ones whose college is fully paid for. I’d tell people to just go for it,” Cotten said.
