Street roots., July 31, 2015, Page 10, Image 10

News
Page 10
Street Roots
Brain tumor, hard work, now Yale — and beyond
Frances Fagan, who has spent a lot o f time in waiting rooms a t social services
agencies, aim s to transform sim ilar spaces into therapeutic environments.
BY SUE ZALOKAR
STAFF WRITER
W""\rances Fagan isn’t the average
W student, but áhe is paying the way for
J. the average student to reach success.
Born in Hood River, Fagan/grew up in a
rural community across the river in White
Salmon, Wash. She will tell you that she
grew up in a family that/encouraged
autonomy and, for many years, in a
household that had no running water or
electricity. Some call it a bohemian lifestyle.
Fagan says it was more like “rainbow
gathering hippies.” Whatever the case, next
month, Fagan will pack up her life (and her
eat) and move to New Haven, Conn. Once
there, she will begin her study, on a full
scholarship, at Yale University with a focus
on studying ethnicity, race and migration.
The remarkable thing about Fagan isn’t
that she got into an Ivy League school. It is
that through using a supportive academic
network and by staying obsessively focused
on her goals and hours of tutoring, in two
years Fagan Went from a fifth-grade math
level to a full-ride scholarship to Yale.
But while she says she is overwhelmingly
grateful to be headed to such a well-
respected school, it is simply a step on the „
road to a larger goal. Fagan wants to work
for the United Nations as an adviser on the
design of refugee camps.
It is no accident that the enterprising
woman has an interest in supportive,
therapeutic, environments. In 2005, Fagan
suffered a seizure caused by a brain tumor
in her left frontal lobe. The seizure and the
surgery to remove the tumor left her
paralyzed on half of her body, with years of
recovery ahead. Suddenly, this self-sufficient
woman was dependent on a supportive
community, unable to drive because of the
risk of continued seizure, and spent
countless hours sitting in public spaces:
traveling by bus and idling in social service
agencies’ waiting rooms. She had a lot of
time to watch these spaces, how diverse
groups of people used them and how the
spaces were limiting. She also had a lot of
time to think about how to make these
spaces more welcoming.
The story of Frances Fagan isn’t one
about a woman who worked hard to
overcome a brain tumor to go to Yale. It is
the story of a woman who is blazing the way
so that others might follow.
F ran ces Fagan: In 2013,1 began a two-
year process that led me to here. But a
couple of years after high school, I actually
enrolled in some classes in the wintertime,
thinking it would be fun to take some art
classes and take a philosophy class. But I
didn’t have a focus. And I didn’t have a plan,
and I didn’t seek out any guidance
counseling or help like that.
When it started snowing, halfway through
the winter season, I just kind of wandered
away. I had no attachments. I hadn’t reached
out to any communities in the school or
organizations, clubs or guidance counselors,
and so there was nothing anchoring me to
Frances Fagan is about to begin school a t Yale to study ethnicity, race and migration, with a passion fo r helping refugees.
PCC. It was easy for me to wander away. I
think that is a problem a lot of people face —
either first-timers or people returning to
school - they don’t find any anchor points
or connections within their campus and so .
they are kind of just adrift
Su e Zalokar: How.did you stay
“anchored” this time around?
F.F.: The Transitions Program gave me
that. It gave me a community. It’s a one*
term program for nontraditional students,
and it gives you an automatic cohort of
other people from diverse backgrounds.
There are all kinds of ages and skill levels.
People are coming from all kinds of
transitional points in their life. It’s a bunch
of relatable misfits, in a way.
S.Z.: You’ve said that as a child, your
family moved around a lot. As a teacher, I -
have seen how this can affect students’ skill
and confidence. How did this affect your
understanding o f formal schooling?
F.F.: It made it extremely difficult for me
to appreciate formal school because some
years, I would go to two schools in the same
year. Each school is working on different
topics at different times.
I learned how to be really adaptable
socially, which has helped me, but
academically, I never really had any
foundation. I never developed any kind of
lasting relationship with any school or with
any extracurricular program.
S.Z.: Then June 2005 happened: You
suffered a major seizure in Southeast Portland
right outside o f your home. You were diagnosed
with a brain tumor in your left frontal lobe.
The recovery from surgery left you paralyzed on
one side o f your body. Recovery took three years.
You’ve said you were pretty fiercely independent
before the surgery. What was it like to become
dependent on a support network, made up
largely o f people you didn’t know?
F.F.: It was extremely humbling. And very
disorienting. After that initial (surgery),
because of the scar tissue in my head, I
started having seizures pretty constantly,
which is disorienting.
I couldn’t work, and I had worked since I
was 15. The process of applying for
disability was exhausting. Especially because
my mental capacity had been totally messed
with, and then I was having seizures
constantly.
I was initially on some pretty intense
seizure medication like phenobarbital.
Anyone that takes such intense medications
knows that it’s kind of like moving through a
fog. And so to be asked to do a lot of
complicated paperwork and to go to
different offices around town (was difficult).
If you need the resources, you have to be
extremely diligent. It is common that you’re
denied Social Security benefits; you are
denied off the bat. I actually had to hire an
attorney..
S.Z.: You were denied?
F.F.: Yes. I was. Like many people. I was
housed, but I heard of people that were
living in their car and having intense
problems who were also denied.
S.Z.: Advocating for yourself at this time
couldn’t have been very easy.
F.F.: If you want to have access to the
resources that you need, even though we
are one of the richest countries in the
world, you have to get lucky. I had a good
attorney, but I still had to be super adamant
and make calls to (move things forward).
Granted, there are wonderful people in the
(Supplemental Security Income) program,
but the process is exhausting and basically
set up for people to fail.
I think you are being punished for being
vulnerable. You’re on hold for hours on the
phone. There is a constant stream of
paperwork that you have to stay on top of.
... I was going from a radiation appointment
to getting right back onto a TriMet bus and
riding over to Powell Boulevard and waiting
for a couple of hours to see if I could get
food benefits.
Ultimately, after I was denied, I had to
move out of my apartment in Southeast and
move up to live with my grandparents (in
Hood River). My case was eventually
approved, and I was able to move back to
Portland and be near the resources that I
needed.
S.Z.: You’ve been in remission fo r 10 years
now. Do you have any lingering anxiety about
that experience?
F.F.: Absolutely. I’m still really
See FAGAN, page 11