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    Tuazon rewarded by DoD for her outstanding performance at Pentagon WRP ceremony

    VA, UNITED STATES

    08.07.2018

    Story by Cmdr. doug gabos 

    Commander, Navy Reserve Force   

    In 1993, Judith Tuazon contracted a viral infection in her spine that would change her life forever. The infection left her paralyzed from the waist down. Unable to walk, she was confined to a wheelchair.

    For years after, she raised her boys the best she could and wondered if she’d ever return to the workforce again.

    “Would anyone accept me? If I did work, how would my co-workers react to me? Would it be awkward, would I ever really fit in?” she asked.

    After noticing posters around the Old Dominion University campus and doing some research, she became acquainted with the Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP), a federal government recruitment and referral program.

    “Without WRP I don’t think I would be working. I just don’t think I’d be able to get hired in the public sector,” she said.

    She applied to WRP and was soon selected for an internship. Still, she wondered if she would ever attain her goal and be offered a full-time position. “I wondered if people would ever see past my wheelchair and see my full potential,” she said.

    I got a call for an interview at Navy Reserve Forces Command, she relayed excitedly. She was satisfied with how she responded in the interview, but still worried that her disability would limit her opportunity.
    “At the end of the interview, the interviewer asked me if I had any questions. Yes, she replied, do you have a ramp to access the building,”? she asked.

    A few days later, in October 2017, she was offered the position as an audit readiness analyst.

    Less than a year later, Tuazon’s ability has come to the forefront. On July 25, she was recognized at the WRP awards ceremony at the Pentagon.

    She said it was the first time she ever stepped foot in the Pentagon. “It was so exciting—such an incredible experience.”

    Tuazon said she felt truly grateful for the recognition. “There were four of us being awarded. One person was blind, one was speech impaired, the other was hearing and speech impaired, and I was in a wheelchair. Seeing them there and being there with them, I just felt extremely honored,” she said.

    Tuazon’s employment and award have been transformative on many levels. “For the longest time, I felt like people couldn’t see me. Do they know I’m here?”

    Now, she said, she knows the answer. Her experience during her short time here at Reserve Forces Command has been special for many other reasons. “They make me feel like I’m accepted, included and one of the team she said of her co-workers. “They care about me, they ask about me, they try to accommodate me. It really feels like a family where everyone cares for each other,” she added.

    The building accommodations were modest, but easily provided all that was needed for her to be able to enter the building and get around. All it took was posting a "reserved parking" sign on one of the handicapped parking spots in front of the building and installation of push button doors in the restrooms and one to access her office.

    Small physical accommodations for the building, but such a large accomplishment for a person.

    “They all accept me. They don’t make me feel like I have a disability. I said, oh my gosh, this is so nice.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.07.2018
    Date Posted: 08.07.2018 16:21
    Story ID: 287712
    Location: VA, US

    Web Views: 41
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN