My name is Jordan Toma and I am 34 years old.
From a young student dealing with learning disabilities and feeling helpless to parents and a system that I thought didn’t understand me and could not help me, I never felt I was good enough for anything, not good enough to become something.
I always felt I would amount to very little, however, I have achieved success in my life.
I have made it my life goal to share everything I did to change my life from what I thought it would be to what I have become.
I am the #1 Youth Motivational Speaker and Youth Advocate in the United States.
I promise you, it was not easy. I have a story just like you - because we are the same. I know and understand your struggle, I have lived it my entire life. It took me this long to understand: My Struggle is My Strength.
I went through the first 18 years of life thinking my learning disabilities would prevent me from simply being normal. Being successful wasn’t even a thought, I was too busy focusing on how different I thought I was from everyone.
Over time, I learned My Struggle was My Strength.
Today, I wear that like a badge of honor.
I want everyone to know just how hard it was and how I became the person I am today because of it.
You and I are the same. I want everyone to wear this badge of honor alongside me.
My life has been a roller-coaster with learning disabilities. Those two words dominated my life throughout school in a very bad way. It devastated my confidence, my self-esteem, my self-worth, my awareness…
Back then, I did not know My Struggle was My Strength. I constantly compared myself to everyone around me: my friends, my family, my parents, even people I didn’t know. I felt I would never amount to anything in life, that they were all better than me, smarter than me, more normal than me and could do more than me.
I let that define me and my mood, my attitude and feelings. In my mind the words learning disability became a label plastered on my shirt for everyone to see, laugh at and know I was different. I always felt I was not as good as everyone else and I never would be.
I always felt lost and helpless in class. I struggled with listening, reading, paying attention, being present and of course trying to understand why I couldn’t pick things up like everyone else did. I remember sitting in class and telling myself I am going to really try hard to understand everything and be a normal student but I just couldn’t grasp the material. The struggle was real and it led to a requirement of special lessons.
Special lessons led to other students and so-called friends calling me dumb. I also allowed this to control me throughout high school.
After graduating high school in 2008, Centenary University accepted me into a life changing program called Step Ahead. I remember when I moved into the Centenary University dorm, the summer I turned 18, filled with fear and anxiety. I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and promised I was going to change, I was going to change my life and that name tag that had dominated me up to that point.
From that day forward, I stopped being who I thought I was and started becoming who I am.
I started working harder and harder until I had an understanding and started building a foundation of confidence and belief in myself.
Brick by brick, it brought me to where I am today, here with you.
A new journey has begun for me, a journey where I show everyone how to start their journey.
Young people, young students, parents, teachers, and pretty much everyone struggling can relate to my struggle, because your struggle is my struggle.
I will help you create a foundation of belief, confidence, work ethic and everything in between to become the best person you can be and equally important: never, ever allow anything to stop you from becoming more in life.
I know that sharing my story, my struggle and how I became who I am today, will inspire you - and everyone.
I want to help you understand you can do it, too!
Book an event today and let’s start our journey together!
- Jordan Toma
I'm Just A Kid With An IEP