This month’s Spotlight of the Month honors Jacob Colson!
Jacob is a loud and proud 32 year old who stutters. Jacob was born and raised in Alief, Texas a suburb of Houston and later relocated to Maypearl. After graduating high school, he enrolled in Hill College and later transferred to UT Arlington where he studied sociology. Professionally, Jacob has worked at Scarborough Faire for a couple years, been on the construction team for the Screams Halloween Theme Park, and was a delivery-driver-moved-up-to-manger at Hometown Pizza (now Lonestar Pizzeria) for eight years. Jacob’s interests include sports, reading about true crime, doing Sudoku puzzles, listening to music and watching TV and movies. He loves all kinds of music, everything from instrumental scores to Eminem, with Blink-182 being his favorite band. A great quality Jacob has is that he is a really good listener. “Whenever someone has a problem or an issue they are dealing with, they can always come to me.” We’ll keep that in mind, Jacob!
What is Jacob’s stuttering story? It was around November of 2014 that Jacob finally forced himself (with some encouragement from his friend Rachel) to get out of the house and go to visit the Dallas National Stuttering Association Chapter. “My life changed for the better when I arrived at my first Dallas NSA meeting”, he says, pointing to Sivan (another first timer) and Russ as two of the people that helped him open his eyes about his own stuttering. “Truer words could not be spoken with the opening and closing words at each meeting, we as stutterers ARE NOT ALONE!”. Jacob also says he has gained new friendships, learned how to get out of his comfort zones and how to give advise to new members. “My favorite things about this welcoming Dallas NSA Chapter are getting to know the wonderful amalgamation of individuals that I consider my second family, the first timers that become regulars (that still warms my heart), and finally accepting my own stutter after a year or so of attending.”
Jacob adds “Cheers to my stuttering family! You guys are awesome and you guys have changed my life! Forever, I will be grateful!”.
Next time you see Jacob ask him about the latest music releases and what kind of music is “in” these days!
#GetToKnowUs #WeStutter #DallasNSASpotlight