The Daily O’Collegian

"Every minute of every day is kind of like a battle," she said. "It’s not that you can’t do things, it’s just figuring out how."

She was on her way to a women’s leadership picnic April 30 when her 1996 Ford Explorer lost control on Highway 51 west of Redlands Road during rainy weather.

The car slid sideways into the center median and rolled almost three times before Watkins was thrown from the driver’s side window. She was not wearing her seat belt.

The accident fractured her spine in ten places, broke six ribs and her collarbone, collapsed one of her lungs and gave her a brain concussion.

She is paralyzed from the chest down, but her doctors aren’t sure if it’s permanent.

"It really is like being a freshman again," she said. "It’s a real adventure."

Part of that adventure involves getting around her own office building — which houses the oldest elevator in Payne County, she said.

Nevertheless, she’s glad to be back on the OSU campus, exuding school spirit from her orange wheelchair.

"Everybody’s so nice," she said. "It does feel good to be back."

The first thing she noticed after returning to campus was the wheelchair entrance in front of the Student Union’s front door was not clearly marked, so sometimes people would park in front of it — not realizing they were blocking the entrance for anyone in a wheelchair.

She mentioned this to Student Union Director Tom Keys, and within a few days the entrance was painted bright blue.

For Watkins, adjusting to life in a wheelchair has been an eye-opening experience.

She went to her high school reunion in Ponca City this summer, but the building it was in was not wheelchair accessible.

"I’ve learned lots of things I never wanted to know," she said. "Like how to go down stairs backwards."

One of her inspirations is a psychologist whom she met while in a rehab — an OSU graduate who is paralyzed from the neck up and helps other patients deal with adjusting to life on wheels.

"She told me, ‘The frustration is not that you can’t walk — it’s figuring out what else you can no longer do.’ It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed," she said. "But I’ve been so lucky."

She wasn’t supposed to return to her office full-time yet, but she convinced her caretakers that she needed to take on the everyday challenges of the world outside of her rehabilitation center.

"I think I learn as much in the real world as at rehab," she said. "It’s hard because you need help sometimes and you don’t always want it."

For Watkins, the various sidewalk surfaces, door widths and elevator sizes across campus are merely exciting new challenges to meet.

Her life is as hectic as ever — right now she is finalizing plans for the Sept. 7 celebration for the end of OSU’s "Bringing Dreams to Life Campaign."

She said therapists have told her she needs to take 15-minute breaks to relax and take deep breaths throughout the day.

"If I had 15 minutes, I could have eaten lunch today," she said.

She still looks forward to the little things — being able to roll around her ranch in Orlando, Okla., and check on the yearlings; navigating through her closet and driving again.

But for now, she gets by with a little help from her family and friends.

"When we went to the grocery store on Sunday, my granddaughter (who is 4 years old) grabbed things off the shelves for me, and when we left, held out her arm like a police officer to stop traffic for me as I