It is important to make the right moves to succeed in life. However, it is also important to leave an impact that generates positivity on the community and become a household name in the eyes of many. Meet Aidan Allman-Cooper. He is a person of many talents and is already creating a name for himself outside of Kean University, by authoring a book as well as owning a business.
Allman-Cooper is an incoming freshman who is triple majoring in Special Education, Psychology and Pre-Law. He chose to attend Kean because of how dedicated the university is to provide a world-class education. Allman-Cooper looked around at other universities, but none of them had the spark that he was looking for. To him, Kean was very welcoming, and he appreciated how inclusive the university and the community were. He has met so many students already and has gotten the opportunity to join the Leadership Institute to expand upon his leadership skills.
"Kean, in my opinion, is one of the best places that a kid could ever go to. There are so many amazing things about it. One of those things is inclusivity," said Allman-Cooper. " I never saw any college as inclusive and as nice as the people at Kean. There wasn't just one group dominating the scene. Everyone has a voice and it makes it easier to speak to anyone you run into. It was overall a match made in heaven."
Allman-Cooper chose his majors because he always wanted to be a teacher, psychologist, and lawyer but always felt that the system of education was not in the right frame of mind for everyone's interests. This influenced him to start his own business, SECA Organization LLC, which stands for the Special Education Committee of Advocates.
The organization was first started as a non-profit back in 2018 and the mission was to promote education by collaborating and organizing events in order to support special needs students and families. From there on out, the mission of SECA, LLC expanded becoming devoted to promoting educational advocacy and consulting for students and families struggling through the special education process.
"I represent families and students who are suffering within a school district and I help them get the rights they deserve. Through my business, I have been able to reignite my passion for advocacy and ensure that everybody has a fair shot."
Allman-Cooper had a particular vision in mind that he thought not many people would understand. So he decided to take the ideas he had to formulate his business without any strings attached to having to work a normal 9 to 5 job.
On top of opening his business, Allman-Cooper recently published a book titled This is Autism, to bring awareness to a disorder that is often overlooked especially in today's society. Allman-Cooper wanted readers to witness how it feels to live with Autism through the many different stories that are established in this book.
"I have always wanted to share some of my experiences as well as provide a platform for others to share their own. People within the Autistic community have not been taken seriously and been referred to many different stereotypes. I really wanted this book to be something where there is no filter," said Allman-Cooper.
"We want everyone to have access to this material to provide more education about the natures of Autism. The nature of Autism is so fluid and that is what I wanted to talk about when making this book... There are some struggles that I may have gone through that the person [whose testimony is] in chapter 6 might not be familiar with. I think that the people that are seen throughout the book are people that the readers can relate to all while bringing forth a topic that is not really discussed as much as it should be."
The main goal of the book is to explain to readers what Autism truly is and what it means for all of the characters in the book who go through different forms of it. Allman-Cooper's book has had a successful launch and is available for purchase on Amazon.
Allman-Cooper has had so much success within the past few years and encourages others to follow their passions no matter what they are going through. If somebody has a dream, then they should expel all the negative energy and establish their own pathway to success all while remembering where they came from.
"If you have a dream and there is this culture of saying you are not good enough, I think that should strike up the opportunity to forge your own path and be the person that you want to be. It's also about being kind to others which also helps form the path to success. I think Kean is such a great place to pursue your passions because they have such kind people with positive mindsets. There are so many resources available to help them become the person they want to be. I have never seen anything like what Kean is doing and I think it is fantastic." said Allman-Cooper.
Allman-Cooper is truly his own boss, and has dedicated his life to helping others through his actions and art. He is a force to be reckoned with and a positive role model to look up to for those who want to strive for more in their lives.
