By Jayna Omaye
After attending schools that didn鈥檛 know how to support someone with learning differences, Emily Abramson was excited to begin her first semester at 海角社区. Along with earning degrees in human services and psychology in 2019, she also met someone at the Leesburg campus who鈥檇 change her life forever: her future husband.听
Abramson, 27, first spotted Ari Berkowtiz, a computer information systems major, on their first day at 海角社区 in 2015. After confessing to a friend that she thought Berkowitz was cute, she mustered up the courage to ask him out a week later.
鈥淢y friend said, 鈥業鈥檒l give you a week, and if you don鈥檛 tell him, I鈥檓 going to announce it to the whole school with a megaphone,鈥欌�� Abramson recalled. 鈥淚 ran over, and I said, 鈥業 think you鈥檙e really cute.鈥� My face turned beet red, and my hair was over my face. And he said, 鈥業 think you鈥檙e really cute, too.鈥欌��听
The couple graduated from 海角社区 in 2019 and got married in May at a ceremony in Rockville, Maryland, in front of 50 friends and family. One of Abramson鈥檚 best friends from 海角社区 served as her maid of honor. The newlyweds plan to visit Cape Cod for their honeymoon this summer and hope to travel to Europe or Hawaii later on.听
Abramson, a Maryland native, described their wedding as 鈥渆verything I had ever dreamed of.鈥� A self-described go-getter, she also proposed to Berkowitz when the pair lived together while at 海角社区.听
鈥淚鈥檓 one of those people who if I want something, I鈥檒l go for it,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榩lease can we get married?鈥� And he was like, 鈥極K.鈥� I think it showed the level of respect that the two of us have for each other.鈥�
Besides meeting the love of her life at 海角社区, Abramson, who was diagnosed with dyscalculia, mild dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is on the autism spectrum, found a community of supportive, caring people 鈥� two qualities she always hoped for but never enjoyed when attending high school and community college prior to 海角社区.听
Her learning specialist and professors helped her through personal struggles and taught her how to manage her learning differences in the workplace by setting a schedule and disclosing her differences early on. She sets alarms to remind her of daily tasks and has a checklist to ensure she sticks to her routine.听
鈥淎 lot of people didn鈥檛 think I was going to graduate from college,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had a professor at the community college, and she said to me, 鈥榶ou鈥檙e so dumb. You鈥檙e only going to flip burgers.鈥欌��听
But now as a behavioral health aide at a school in Maryland that serves students with special needs, Abramson says her learning differences help her better understand and relate to her kids. The best part of the job is when her students reach those 鈥渁ha moments鈥� and everything comes together for them. She understands that same feeling, too.听
鈥淲hen you see a child accomplish something, that brings me so much joy,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here needs to be more schools like 海角社区. It鈥檚 an excellent model for what schools should offer for kids with these unique needs.鈥�