& so much more
A bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and community.
& so much more
Defined by Dreams and Determination, not Disabilities
What happens when we focus on strengths instead of limitations? R'Kel Mosely takes us on an unforgettable journey through his experience with Project Search, a program that's transformed his outlook on life, work, and his own capabilities.
From the moment R'Kel began sharing his story, his wisdom shines through. "Even if I can do it all myself, I can't do it alone," he reflects, capturing the essence of why supportive communities matter. Through Project Search, he has discovered how to manage his anxiety, pace himself, and build confidence about his future—all while exploring his passion for graphic design and art.
"People saying disabilities can't do nothing or they're just hopeless—they're all wrong," R'Kel declares with conviction. "We're not mutants, we're just humans who live in society." His message to others with disabilities resonates with hope: "Don't give up who you are. Be you." Through R'Kel's eyes, we see how meaningful employment opportunities don't just build careers—they build lives filled with purpose, connection, and self-determination. Listen now and be inspired by what's possible when talent meets opportunity.
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Hi, I am Arkell Mosling and welcome to and so Much More. I'm with Amanda from Project Search. Hello Amanda.
Speaker 1:Hi Kel I've been in Project Search for like since August. So I've been in the Project Search for a couple months, almost a year, and technically they help me to achieve my goals. That what I need to take some time to step by step, that I need to stop being rushed and keeping my anxiety a lot, to not be afraid for my future and learning to take some time. They always tell me the advice of like take your time to get a job. Well, I really want to be a full-time YouTuber and a voice actor and I always loved to be a voice actor and if it wasn't for Miss Amanda, I would have become a person I am that I wanted to be.
Speaker 2:Well, we're so proud of you, cal. You've worked so hard at Project Search and I really I know you are such a great person and you're going to be so proud of your future. I know you will be Thank you. I wasn't expecting all that, cal. It's like okay, I try not to cry so early in our interview, but you really. You really touch my heart because I don't think I mean. I know you've worked really hard and you give Project Search credit. I know you've worked really hard and you give Project Search credit. I know you give Jennifer and I credit, but that's you. So much of that is you working hard. You've fought your battles and you've learned to advocate for yourself and you've figured out who you are and your worth, that you're so valuable and you've got so much to offer. And it's not about disability or autism. It's about all of your talent and who you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, even if I can do it all myself, I can't do it alone. I had to find a way. There will always be a final way, and sometimes you never know what something will happen to you and you will find a way. Sure, not everyone has the answer or find a way. Sometimes we have to find our own way and find our own answers.
Speaker 2:And it's really I think it's really wise of you that you know sometimes you do need a community and a team, and that's what Project Search has been here right. We have Centra, we have our mentors, you have your teachers, you have your teammates in the training room and we all became a team, and it takes a lot to know that you can't do everything by yourself sometimes.
Speaker 1:It's true.
Speaker 2:So Cal, you're doing an amazing job with your takeover so far and I know the connection we have with this team is through graphics. Can you tell us a little bit about your graphics internship so far and the project that you've been working on?
Speaker 1:Well, technically, when you told me about the graphics, I was really excited to help out and technically I was a little bit struggling, but I managed to figure out why and kept going with it. The graphics I like. I think it's the one I think I created before this.
Speaker 2:The Bright Minds.
Speaker 1:The Bright Minds? Yes, Can you tell us?
Speaker 2:about it.
Speaker 1:Well, the Bright Minds was technically like Bright Minds. I thought I'd add something a little silly with the cloud in its head and thinking something else and adding double rainbow of it. And technically I changed it up design and they say like well, technically we wanted something more beautiful in a way or something like activity, like painting, music and masks.
Speaker 2:Right, highlighting their whole event.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I added a little sketch on it and putting all the things, what they want to do, and I was like hey that looks pretty good to me.
Speaker 2:So this opportunity was your first big opportunity to do a logo concept. So the team came in and was able to help Cal, give him some feedback and use some technology as well as his hand drawing art to create a logo design for the arts of neurodiversity, which is a special event that's happening here at centra in june. So that was really neat that you got to do a little contracted piece first.
Speaker 1:Real big logo, yes, and they're going to be using it and I would technically love to have a shirt of it, because I would definitely like to have the shirt.
Speaker 2:I think they're making shirts. Actually, if they make shirts, we will definitely get you one. Thank you, so you've had the graphic design opportunity. Can you tell us since August you said you've been here? Can you tell us at all about any of your other internships or any of the other experiences you've had?
Speaker 1:Well, I do have other experiments before kitchen.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And technically I think, the one, I think it's called the central surface.
Speaker 2:Yeah, central surfaces.
Speaker 1:It's like you have to do the material things and take care of the materials and send it to the people who are doing the surgery for the chest hearts or the leg surgery Knees who are doing the surgery for the chest, hearts, or the leg surgery, knees.
Speaker 2:So, arkell, as an artist, one of your gifts is attention to detail, and one thing that we do at Project Search is we try to maximize our strengths, just like everybody, including myself, we all have our jobs because of the things we're really great at, not our weaknesses. So one of Kel's strengths is his attention to detail. So we had him in central services basically making case carts excuse me for the operating rooms. So, as you can imagine, there's a lot of equipment, medical equipment that goes into those carts, sometimes up to 100 plus items, and he was able to go through checklists and inventory sheets and prepare those for our patients here.
Speaker 1:Yes, I kept it going, but sometimes it was a little bit struggling to keep myself working because I have some other weaknesses I have to deal with, such as like communications that's part of my disability, of autism, and I had to deal with heat, but I kept going. I didn't care about it. So I keep going, no matter what and, most importantly, I had to like had to wait to something like something new was gonna happen. I didn't feel like just want to be a slacker.
Speaker 1:I was afraid some people see me as a slacker, but technically I just don't know if it's right timing to work or not. This is why, like I had to give some other main advice. For example, miss k, she gave me like a 15 minutes of it before going to work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because when the 15 minutes is up, I check that there's more work left, and I do that over and over again, but till then I afterwards I there was still more work now and I just kept on working as best as I can so I think part of what you're you're explaining really well is things that we teach in project search are not just the tasks so you knew your carts, you knew how to do your carts but some of those other soft skills like our time management and the way that we communicate with our coworkers, how we regulate our own breaks and when we know we need breaks. So all of those skills that go into our goal, which is to get a job, and Keep a job.
Speaker 2:Put you on the spot To get a job and keep a job. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Unscripted Get the job, keep a job. Put you on the spot to get a job and keep a job. Yeah, unscripted Get the job, keep a job.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly. So you mentioned your communication, and I wanted to circle back to that, because one of the things that I think is so amazing about you is you understand yourself which I think a lot of adults do not even understand their strengths or their weaknesses or what you describe as your disability. Can you talk to us a little bit about what that looks like to you, that journey, and, as an adult, what you've realized about that?
Speaker 1:Well, technically that is a good question actually, but back then, when I was like young or something I was not sure, because it's been a while Technically it's just like I don't know about what disability was. Heck, I didn't even know what disability was. Back then I didn't understand why people would make fun of me or treat me like crap or something like that. I didn't understand why until I had slowly realized what they're talking about, or something like that.
Speaker 2:What did you think the word was?
Speaker 1:Yes, the word was yes. And technically my aunt, even my mother, keep telling me about like a disability of, like autistic. At first I thought they were saying artistic, but instead it's artist autistic, because I got misunderstanding. They were saying even one of my cousins have autistic. I think my little cousin I think I'm gonna call but K he has a disability just like me and technically I slowly started to realize what disability is. And even my girlfriend has a disability of autism and ADHD and technically she was supportive, trying to help me to figure out what it is or something like that.
Speaker 1:At first I thought my disability is like to figure out what it is or something like that. At first I thought my disability is like with my autism. When I first had known about my disability I thought it was just me just avoiding people or just ignoring danger or other things or avoiding hugs. I just thought that's part of my disability, of my autistic. I didn't understand why. I thought I had to just fight it and just try to make friends, because I like making friends and I like communicating people sometimes, but sometimes I feel like I had to avoid being alone. If I want to be alone, I want to be alone.
Speaker 2:But that's the suckiest part for me, because I don't know if it's this part of my disability or not what's something so going from when you were young and you heard them using this word and you are very artistic, by the way, so I understand you thought you were an artist. Now, as an adult, and even through this program, what do you feel like autism means for you?
Speaker 1:my true disability is of autism. Which autism is? My disability of communication. It's hard to understand people's their own communications and they don't understand what my communications and technically heck, I even can't even understand my girlfriend's communication because she has a disability of autism too but at the same time has ADHD.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's really understandable and relatable for a lot of people, especially in relationships, and that's one of the things that we've worked on this year, too is we have a social unit within our curriculum where we talk a lot about relationships, and it is hard when we're communicating. Even people that don't have autism, I think, would agree it's really hard to communicate within relationships. I know that you're doing the takeover and now I feel like I'm doing the takeover, but you're so interesting to me because you describe communication as a weakness, but to me, I think you're an amazing communicator. I think you're an amazing communicator and you're able to express and share feelings that I wish other people that I've met with autism could feel empowered to share and have platforms to share. Can I ask you, when people think about people with autism, if they thought, maybe, that they wouldn't have a job, or if they thought, maybe, that they wouldn't have relationships, what do you think? Do you think? Do you think you're close to having a job? Or if they thought, maybe, that they wouldn't have relationships?
Speaker 2:What do you think? Do you think you're close to having a job?
Speaker 1:Yes, I do, because technically, people just saying that disabilities can't do nothing or they're just hopeless and useless, but they're all wrong.
Speaker 1:Not everyone is special because they're healthy. Raising even raising your children it's like you raise your children as good children. That makes parents yet special. But not everyone's perfect not even me, amanda, or everyone but sometimes we can prove everyone wrong. You have dreams, we have hope, and there's nothing we can worry about. It's that we need to worry about is determination Determination inside us, the who has a heart that we show them they are wrong. That show them that we are better disability people than who we are. They're thinking we can't do nothing. We can do something. We can help people who's watching this right now who have disability. You can do something to help everyone. We all need to treat each other as equals. We're not mutants, we're just humans who live in society. It might be a cruel world, but the world is still beautiful out there. Someone who would help us, someone who could give us hope and dreams in our lives, that's a true meaning of communication and helping people's lives, no matter what cost.
Speaker 1:But what I'm trying to say is don't give up who you are. Be you.
Speaker 2:You be you. That's really beautiful, cal. Yeah, I hope you feel that for yourself. I hope you can maybe watch this, maybe Jacob can show this to you, and when you start to feel those battles, you have yourself saying believe in you because you are amazing and you are certainly not a mistake, and I know you're going to get a job for one, and I know you're going to be really proud of yourself when you reach those goals that we've talked about. We were having meetings and we were talking about you coming here and we were talking about coming to Project Search and you weren't sure about coming at first. You kind of didn't know if this was your choice, if you wanted to come. How do you feel now, after almost a year here? How do you feel about your journey?
Speaker 1:It felt great Technically. I just didn't understand because of the communication stuff. It's okay Technically. I'm glad to be in here because I love to do graphic and stuff and I thought I could show the world how amazing my art is, for sure, and I love creating arts and stuff with my head and I learned how to use to do expressions and stuff. Yeah, I've been loving drawing since, I think since middle school, and I draw a lot with my best friend and everyone. I know who's artists, just like me. But being the graphics is amazing and I could show everyone how good my art is and, technically, who all the artists who got inspired. I got inspired by them and I would love to see them or talk to them for the first time.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad that you came because I think that, looking back this time last year to now, I feel like you have even more clear path of what you want, as far as you've talked about getting your first apartment. You've talked about getting your first car when you get your job. We've talked about goals that you have and even further, career goals in graphics and maybe doing college at some point. So I think this year has been a year really well spent for you. I've enjoyed working with you and I know that everyone that you've worked with at Center has enjoyed you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for watching, of hearing my story, what I've been through, and it is honored to helping a lot of disability people around the world. Don't you miss Amanda.
Speaker 2:I agree it's been really amazing to be a part of this takeover with Kel. I think Kel is an amazing example to me of how much value everybody has, regardless of their ability or said disability. Kel is a remarkable student and he is teaching me and I'm his teacher, so I think if there's nothing else to learn or to hear, it's just that this gift of employment for him and being a part of Project Search and being on this journey has been a gift to us too, and I just hope you know how valuable you are and I appreciate you so much sharing your story and and communicating so well thank you for thank you for everything, miss amanda.
Speaker 1:Thank you for everything.
