Who said I can’t hear?

“Meet 14 year old Alexandria White, socially known as Fashion Alley; a sweet spirit with a meek voice, a giggle that contagiously captivates your heart and desire to be a motivator and role model to others her age.

This aspiring fashion designer has a hearing impairment but refuses to let it stop her from enjoying the beauty of life and pursuing the career of her dreams. She conquers what she calls her biggest challenge by believing passionately that God will heal her ears.

Alexandria was in kindergarten when she first realized that she had a hearing impairment. “I was mad that I couldn’t hear and wanted to hear so bad” she said. She remembers it being frustrating, causing her to feel anger to the point where she became aggressive. Alexandria’s mom recalls while driving she would say “Mom put the driving mirror on your lips so I could hear you”. She never liked wearing her hearing aid and would scream because she didn’t want it on her, but observed when she didn’t have it on it felt like she was underwater, everything sounded mumbled. Her mom told her the key to healing was prayer, “Ask the lord to heal your ears”; she taught her Isaiah 53:5 “with his stripes we are healed”.

Alexandria’s mom eventually had a special aid to assist with her speech but after 7th grade Alexandria made the decision to not rely on the aid, she felt like she could do it on her own. She stopped receiving speech therapy because her vocabulary and speech had approved outstandingly. She was an A student once she reached the 8th grade. Her middle school experiences helped her become an advocate for herself. Alexandria felt very insecure about people not wanting to be around her. She was called “deaf girl” which offended her because she wasn’t. Alexandria’s insecurities intensified, she thought everyone was talking about her, because she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she became emotionally drained. Alexandria found herself wanting to be friends with the popular crowd more than anything. She wanted to fit in and felt more like a follower than the leader. Middle school was her stepping stone and the making of a confident and empowering young lady. Her adversities helped her grow instead of wither.

Now a freshman in high school, Alexandria is an A plus student and has an optimistic view on life. She doesn’t care to fit in but to be true to herself, and respects others that vow to do the same. She prefers not to surround herself with negative individuals. Alexandria asked God to give her better friends and for her not to care what others thought of her; she would pray “Thank you God for the friends that I have and things that I want, I know it was already done for me” this prayer she would say every morning. She now chooses friends that are real and honest, ones she can rely on and trust. If she notices a friend is being unreal she will politely pull them to the side and confront the situation, she doesn’t want others to think she accepts things when she doesn’t.

Alexandria has come so far from the girl that once wanted to be popular and blend in with everyone else, she considers herself a leader now and not a follower, and though there are times where she may not always feel like a leader, she knows that she is one at heart. Alexandria’s high school is extremely diverse which she loves. She has a variety of friends and doesn’t just hang with a single group. When asked if everyone gets along with her, she replies with a bubbly giggle, “Yes, cause I’m nice and I accept everybody”. She expressed her love for her two best friends who she describes as; always there for her, they have a lot in common, can talk about everything and have fun with each other without getting offended, and though they have ups and downs they are very supportive during hard times.

Academically Alexandria loves math and is brilliant at it. But she does have one subject that she isn’t quite fond of which is Biology, “I am the worse at Bio Lab” she laughs. She also considers herself a problem solver; she stated that if she didn’t pursue her fashion designer career, a private investigator has crossed her mind. “You can have more than one career, I will always be a fashion designer at heart”, she attests.

Pursuing her dream career as a fashion designer is Alexandria’s passion. Although during her free time she enjoys hanging with friends and shopping, she also loves to sketch the latest fashion, and what she sees others wearing. She gets inspiration from other people’s designs, her favorite idols and singers and incorporates them into her drawings. Her favorite designer is Betsey Johnson; she describes her designs as “wild not simple, enthusiastic and jovial, always happy. Alexandria shares the same happy-go-lucky personality as her ideal designer. She never wants to be sad, loves having fun and doesn’t take things serious unless she needs to. She desires that everything around her has to be happy and positive. This breezy teen not only is artistically gifted but she is an awesome writer as well, she has a blog, which she hasn’t written for in a while because she’s been focused on school, titled “Alley Says” (www.alleysays.wordpress.com) in which she blogs about what she fashionably adores.

Alexandria truly believes that preparing for her future will help her achieve her dream. During the summer she took fashion classes at Hofstra University, in Long Island, NY. She is presently taking sewing classes and still is learning sewing terms and so forth. She has a selection of dream schools she is interested in, FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), Art Institute of New York, FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) and a school in Paris as well.

Aside from school and pursuing her passion, Alexandria has a love for pop music, heartfelt books and inspirational quotes. She has a liking for starlets such as Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez, along with boy bands, One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer. She once dabbed into writing music as well; talk about incredible talent. Though she loves to read, lately she hasn’t found the time to as much, the last book she recalls readings was “Ordinary People” by Judith Guest, a story about identity and finding oneself, one she says will touch the heart. Her all-time favorite book is, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, it made her so emotional she said, what touched her was the faith and hope that was displayed, it was a true love story.

Alexandria is enthusiastic about motivating others and has two quotes that motivated her when others would doubt her instead of encouraging her. One is by an unknown author, “There are so many people out there who will tell you that you can’t. What you’ve got to do is turn around and say, watch me,”

and the other is from Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness, “Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something, not even me, alright? You got a dream, you gotta protect it, people can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it, you want something, go get it, Period.”

Alexandria’s devoted relationship with God helped her overcome her insecurities and become the charismatic spirit she is today. Her past may have once affected her socially and emotionally but her steadfast faith and support from her parents and cousin was all she needed to conquer her uncertainties. They would talk to her and give her positive feedback about herself. Alexandria’s parents, Kellie and Stephen White who are both pastors, have instilled the word of God in her. “I tell my parents everything even when they don’t think I do”, she declares. When she felt like giving up and wasn’t happy with herself, she recited one of her favorite scriptures which gave her strength. “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me”-Philippians 4:13. Alexandria acknowledges that although she hasn’t received all that she wants, she knows he has already blessed her with it. She is grateful, always says thank you to the lord and doesn’t ask for much, but to be forgiven of her sins, for hating herself and not loving herself and caring about what others thought of her. Alexandria truly believes that God will heal her ears, she says “There is this voice inside my heart saying I will be healed“, she proclaims this because she has witnessed other miracles of the lord.─ “Who says she can’t hear?”

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” –Romans 10:17