This is the goosebumps worthy story shared by Julia. She only recently became a cyborg, thanks to the INDY bionic one-grip arm.
- Tell us a little about yourself, what do you do?
I'm 24. I work as a gym administrator, and in my free time I enjoy sports - for the past couple of years I've been going to the gym. I started exercising not so long ago as I used to be very shy about it before. However, I figured out that working out my back and arms was inevitable, this is why I got into sports. I also blog, which I am trying to promote.
- How do you position yourself right now?
As a cyborg girl, I guess. It's thanks to these technologies that we can feel more confident and badass, they help us emotionally. That's what makes us stand out. And the other day I came to a thought, just as I was discussing this with my mother, and she told me that if she could, she would give me her hand. It was at that moment that I realized that I didn't want to be an ordinary person. If I had a choice to make, I would choose what I have now.
- As you told us in the interview, you would like to enter the modeling business. What is it about it that fascinates you?
Yeah, I wanna give modeling a try, because a lot of guys say that I have the look for it. The thing I find very appealing about modeling is that the old 90x60x90 standards (which, by the way, I almost fit into) are no longer relevant.
Before, I would not even dream of becoming a model with just one arm, but now it seems to me that it will be very awesome to prove that in our modern world you can do anything you want and achieve what you are passionate about. My goal is to show everyone that we are beautiful enough and worthy enough to feature in any magazine. I would very much like to accomplish this dream!
- How do other people react to the bionic arm?
"It depends. My best friend didn't even bat an eye, because she had seen pictures of my new gadget on the Internet before. I often get asked for handshakes, it's a common thing: whenever they see me for the first time, they want to shake my hand.
In fact, I noticed that in the city center, for example, they are absolutely fine when they look at it. The young people might come up and be like, " Let me ask you a question, are you a cyborg? You're so cool!" Whereas I was in the outskirts of the city, in a suburban neighborhood, once and for the first time, I had a rather negative experience. It was an old lady who passed me by. Something about my prosthesis frightened her.
- How has your perception of yourself changed since you got your prosthetic arm?
Most of what I thought has changed. The process of changing the way I felt about myself took a long time. It was daunting and eerie. Occasionally, negative thoughts would come to my mind in some new form. It was scary to leave the house with a prosthesis, as well as to show up in front of friends for the first time with it. Of course, the first time is quite scary, but the second time is slightly easier, then the third time it doesn't matter who looks at it or how."
The way I see myself has changed by a lot. It seems to me that in tandem with the change of mindset, the prosthesis has been very beneficial to me. At first I thought I would have to get used to wearing a prosthesis, the next thing I knew I was scared that I wouldn't be able to go out without one at all. These thoughts were constant and exhausting me on a daily basis. And all of a sudden you get to the point where you think, ‘I don't care, I'm perfect and I'm going to live the way I like it, no matter who stares at me or what the neighbors think.’
- How do you feel about the term "disabled"?
In the past, even during classes, when the word 'disabled' or 'person with disabilities' was said, it was as though it was about me, as if everyone was thinking about me at that second. Except no one ever really thought so. That term used to scare me, but not anymore. There is no way to avoid it anyway, they will still call me that. But I don't consider myself disabled, instead I see myself as a person who is happy just with what they have. No matter how many arms and legs you have, all that matters is what you have inside.
