After joining the DOR Victoria Leyva,23, gets back on track to a healthy academic life.Photo by Thomas Contant.

Bipolar disorder is the worst of both worlds.

Feeling euphoric and minutes later feeling the “worst a human being could feel” are symptoms of a disability that affects as many as 5.7 million adult Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

SWC student Victoria Leyva is one.

Leyva, 23, said she has struggled with mental illness since she was child.

“You can prepare as much as you want, but when you’re actually in the thick of full blown mania it kinda goes to hell,” she said.

Leyva receives aid from the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) for her Rapid Cycling Type 1 Bipolar Disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. These ailments at one time derailed her academic career.

Kathleen Alonzo, a senior DOR vocational rehabilitation counselor, said she helps students who are interested in entering or returning to the workforce.

“A lot of the time people don’t feel that their disability is really impacting them, and when it finally does it creates a barrier,” she said.

Leyva was a student at CSU Fullerton when the symptoms of her mental illness caused her to have a mental breakdown that left her severely depressed and required a medical withdrawal, she said.

“It was so incredibly frustrating,” she said. “Loving school and learning, but not feeling like you could do it because your own mind hates you.”

Aid from the DOR is geared towards helping those with mental or physical disabilities earn their educations and start a career leading to independence.

“They want to give me a career,” said Leyva. “They made a plan for me and realized that a part of my journey was to go to school.”

DOR can provide financial aid for essentials such as gas money, computers and college expenses.

Students are provided with whatever materials are deemed necessary for their success, said Alonzo, as well as help entering the workforce.

Jenny Nominni is a coordinator with Workability Three, a partnership program between the DOR and SWC meant to help students enter and succeed within the workforce.

“It’s a juggling act,” Nominni said. “Students with disabilities need more one-on-one time. Sometimes it’s not that easy to write a resume for someone who has a disability or a 10-year work gap.”

Workability Three counselors help students navigate through a range of tasks such as disability disclosures, job retention, government internships and volunteer work.

“We work with students for sometimes weeks and then they get a job,” said Nominni, “sometimes we work with them for years.”

Workability Three offers other tools like vocational counseling with the aim of finding the best employable fit for each student’s individual capabilities. Combined with DOR assistance, it works to make a successful, contributing student or employee who manages their disability.

Leyva said DOR changed her life.

“A lot of people don’t realize how much help there is,” she said. “They have given me the freedom to pursue school, earn a career and not have to worry so much. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.”