When Victoria Calaman was just a baby, people told her parents, Becky and Doug, she would never learn to read or write.
Today, the now 17-year-old of Clarkston, known as ‘Tori? to her family and friends, is valedictorian of her graduating class, a member of the National Honor Society and has earned numerous awards for academics and athletics.
‘People told me that she would be learning disabled and that we shouldn’t plan on college,? Tori’s mother said, remembering her daughter’s early years.
See, at 17-months-old Tori contracted Spinal Meningitis. The sickness took her hearing, making her profoundly deaf, which means she has no hearing at all.
‘She was saying three-word sentences when she lost her hearing,? Becky said. ‘I understand information has to be given to her differently, but that she couldn’t learn was hard for me to accept.?
‘I’m happy my mother didn’t believe them,? Tori said, with the help of an interpreter.
‘Look at her now,? Becky said.
On May 30, Tori graduated as valedictorian from the Michigan School for the Deaf (MSD) in Flint, a public residential school that serves students who are deaf or hard of hearing from birth to age 26 and who have been referred by their local school districts.
It’s a place where Tori has thrived.
Just this year, Tori, who held a 3.55 grade point average, was the recipient of numerous honors including the Flint Association of the Deaf Auxiliary award for the best all around female student; a $300 Michigan State Grange Scholarship for a student with outstanding scholarship going on to higher education; The Sandra Evans Memorial Scholarship from the AFSCME Local 188 for her written essay ‘How Did Attending MSD Prepare Me for the Future? and other qualifications; the Detroit Free Press All-State Honorable Mention Athlete Certificate; the Earl Jones Valedictorian and TV-5 Best of the Class recognition; the Flint Optimist Scholar Athlete Award; and prom queen for the second year in a row.
She has always been very active at MSD too — playing basketball for four years (captain for the last two years); volleyball for two years (captain her senior year); cheerleading for four years (captain two years); track for two years; drama for two years where she won the Best Actress Award; a member of the Singing Hands choir for three years (performances are taped and aired by Channel 28 in Flint every year); was class officer for four years; and on the yearbook staff her freshman year.
‘I like to keep active and busy. I just like to. I do it because I can. I’m no different than hearing people. Being deaf has nothing to do with it. I’m just a normal kid who is deaf,? Tori, who interprets for a deaf and blind man at her church, St. Marks Deaf Catholic Community in Fenton, said.
That ‘normal kid? said she loves to shop, read books, chat day and night with friends, work on her art, and spend her summers as a camp counselor at the DeSales Center in Brooklyn, Mich. ‘I used to be a camper there. I really liked it. When I was old enough I wanted to work for them.?
And Tori can’t wait to go to college in the fall.
Accepted to four different universities, Tori chose to attend Gallaudet University in Washington D.C.
‘I’m really undecided on a major,? she said. ‘I know I want to help others someday like being a teacher or a doctor. I don’t know all my options yet.?
Tori says she is ‘so ready? to go to college. She isn’t nervous and either is her mother.
‘I would be nervous if I didn’t think she was ready. But she is academically, socially, and emotionally. She’ll be just fine,? Becky said.
‘I’m certain you and I will be reading about her when she’s made her mark on the world,? Connie Schroeder said. Through Clarkston Schools, Schroeder drove Tori to school everyday since the fifth grade. (Tori started at MSD in the fourth grade.)
‘I am so proud of her. She is an unspoiled, unselfish young lady and it is such a pleasure to know her,? Schroeder said.
‘I have always felt she deafened for a reason,? Becky said. ‘I believe she will make a difference in someone’s life. She probably already has.?