VCAL VIBES

Blake Fairchild

VCAL Teacher

Student Reflections following Presentation from Chris Van Ingen to VCAL Students

On Thursday 10 March, the Year 11 VCAL students from Mr Fairchild’s and Mr Hosie’s Personal Development Skills class had a guest speaker named Chris Van Ingen present to us. Chris is a poet, an actor and a performer who was born with Cerebral Palsy. Due to his disability, Chris has been wheelchair bound all his life and as a result, he faced many obstacles and hardship. Growing up, Chris was always bullied at school, and he would often be called harsh names and also had balls thrown at his face. Even as he got older Chris still faced many daily challenges whether it was career related or just daily routine such as getting around. Because of his disability Chris always needs assistance doing things and he often struggles to find ways to contribute to the community. 

Although Chris encountered all those challenges and hurdles growing up, he did not let it get in the way of him achieving his goals and dreams. Today, Chris is living in Geelong with his wife, and he currently works as an artist, street performer, poet, public speaker, political activist and an actor. Chris is determined to motivate, educate and inspire the community. 

One of the main pieces of advice that Chris gave to the students was to never let boundaries and obstacles get in the way of achieving your goals. Even with a disability Chris was able to achieve everything he set his mind to. Chris is a great role model and a great example of why you should never give up on your goals. At the end of the day, you are only limited by your own will and desire.

By Bae Reh Aurora 11B

On Thursday 10 March, the Year 11 VCAL students from Mr Fairchild’s and Mr Hosie’s Personal Development Skills classes had a guest speaker present to us. His name is Chris Van Ingen and he is living with Cerebral Palsy. He is a local street performer, poet, public speaker and actor. He has been acting since high school and trains with screen actors in Geelong. His love of acting comes from the independence he feels while performing and the way it shows his ability and attributes rather than his disability.

He was bullied at school and people had trouble believing he would ever be able to do anything in life. Being wheelchair-bound Chris wasn’t able to do the things that people can normally do on their own. His entire life he has had people helping him do most things and he has struggled to find ways that he can contribute to the community. However, his determination to help others and be an inspiration for so many people helped him to contribute to the community. He got married on the 20th of May 2006. Chris has achieved lots of things in his life, his main one was finishing high school after having 14 surgeries. All of this wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t believe in himself and listening to what people said he couldn’t do. He could do anything he wanted even if he looked silly doing it, he didn’t care and he didn’t give up believing.

The advice Chris gave us was to never stop believing in ourselves and don’t give up on what we want to do in life even if it looks silly doing it. The response from the students was very positive and all the students felt inspired by his speech. Personally, I feel lucky to have the lifestyle I have and listening to Chris made me realise how fortunate I am. 

By Salwa ABDULKADIR MAALIM 11B