Eugheia Simon has all the appearances of a professional working woman.
Simon is working at the Beaumont school district administrative office, helping out where she's needed.
"I love to organize things," Simon said as she filed papers Tuesday, about one week into her first job.
"I want to do a really good job," she said, displaying her enthusiasm along with frequent smiles and laughter.
Simon works under the supervision of Virginia Bean, executive assistant to Superintendent Carrol Thomas.
At 17, Simon's position is only temporary, a summer job with the school district as a part of the ExxonMobil Green Team, but the confidence and maturity she exudes are permanent.
Two years ago, at 15, Simon suffered a stroke, something that teenagers rarely think about.
"It was just a normal day when I woke up," said Simon. "My little cousin was in the restroom with me."
Suddenly, a loud ringing noise sounded in her left ear.
"All of a sudden I felt my head start hurting like a brick was being thrown at (my) skull constantly," she said.
As she made her way over to the bed and called her dad, she lost feeling in her right side and struggled to walk and speak, she said.
"I was crying, and he didn't know what was going on," said Simon.
After a stop at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, Simon was taken by ambulance to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. It was there that doctors determined she'd had a stroke.
"That ride was horrible, absolutely horrible," she said.
Simon had taken medication for a heart murmur since she was 5 years old. She said she had stopped the medication on doctor's orders a month before.
Houston doctors were hesitant to pin the stroke entirely on her stopping the medication, she said.
"I'm thinking my body went into shock," she said.
The initial months of recovery were a struggle.
"I was paralyzed for six months, in a wheelchair at school," she said. "I didn't have a sweet 16."
She questioned God, wondering why he would allow something like that to happen, she said. And she felt alienated from her classmates.
"Normal teenage things didn't interest me as much because I was thinking, 'How am I going to get out of this wheelchair?'" said Simon, who will be a senior at West Brook High School.
She said a turnaround began when she focused on what she did have -- her life, for example.
Through months of therapy in Beaumont and Houston, her physical abilities began to improve. She could walk on her own and speak without a slur. Using mental exercises, she even improved her memory skills.
Today, the remnants of the stroke are minimal. Simon takes two baby aspirin once a day. She still struggles with her short-term memory.
But her dreams are very much alive.
"I want to be a news anchor for CNN," she said. "That was like my plan since I was 13."
And her colleagues now see many strengths.
"She doesn't wait to be told something to do. She volunteers herself," said district spokeswoman Jolene Ortego. "She's just what you would hope a young lady would be." To see more of The Beaumont Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.www.beaumontenterprise.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2008 The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas