NEVADA, Mo. — Just because you have a disability, doesn’t mean you don’t have hopes and dreams too.

Each student has a decision to make when they finish high school, and that includes young people with disabilities.

Helping them to make that decision is the purpose of an annual event held at the Nevada Elk’s Lodge.

“We get the youth pulled from schools and inside the community to come together to provide resources and services that help these youth transition successfully,” said Kalli Gober, On My Own Inc.

The “On My Own” youth transition fair brings together students from several school districts with organizations that can help them achieve their goals.

And if they don’t know exactly what they want to do with their lives, speakers can help them hone in on an area of interest and then point them in that direction.

Dakota Ragsdale went to this same event a few years ago when he was in high school and now helps current students to chart their post high school plans.

“I learned a bunch of different things like how to advocate for myself, what sources I needed to transition into getting a job and if I wanted to go to college,” said Dakota Ragsdale, Youth Volunteer.

“There’s this one booth that helps with people who have Autism, that’s actually very useful cause like today’s society is very difficult for people with Autism to get a job,” said Zachariah Myers, High School Sophomore.

“I want to achieve my goals on going into Psychology, or Child Development, or becoming a Special Ed teacher,” said Dakota Thill, Program Participant.