Twenty-year-old Mihaela Morgan has been told over and over again how amazing she is for overcoming her own adversity, but in her eyes, she’s just being herself.
Mihaela Morgan was born in Romania and spent the first two years of her life in a Romanian orphanage, followed by two years in a foster home. In 2002, at the age of four, Kathy and Gary Morgan of Greenwood adopted her.
Her early years with her family did not come easy, however. She spoke no English and struggled with behavior issues.
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“Her first few years here was just communicating and getting to know what it means to be in a family,” Gary Morgan said.
Her parents said they knew something was different about her and they soon learned she had developed a form of autism from the neglect in the Romanian orphanage.
Mihaela Morgan was developmentally delayed and had some motor skills issues, but that never stopped her from dreaming big. When she was in fourth grade, she told her parents she wished to be a heart surgeon when she grew up.
“I studied all this stuff on the heart and I knew college-level stuff by fourth grade,” she said.
She realized that a heart surgeon was not the most realistic career choice with her delayed motor skills, but she did know she wanted to help people.
Two years after graduating from Center Grove High School in 2016, Mihaela Morgan went into training to become a certified nursing assistant. She recently passed the CNA exam, to her surprise, she said, because she was also battling bronchitis at the time.
“Everyone says, wow you’re so amazing, you do all these things because, despite having that,” she said. “And I’m like, why does it have to be despite, why can’t it be my own accomplishments, without the label of autism?”
Her accomplishments did not come without struggle, though. She always had a passion for helping others and learning. Because she was different, she struggled in school with bullies and depression. However, she excelled academically.
“At one point she said, ‘I’d love school if you’d just get rid of all the kids.’” Kathy Morgan said.
Depression followed Mihaela Morgan through most of her life, she said. Her way to escape came from cartoons, and she soon saw role models in the characters she watched every day.
“I saw these people having harder lives in those shows, and becoming good people despite those, so if they can become good people, then I can,” she said.
Her love of watching cartoons carried over into her own artwork. She regularly draws her own characters, landscapes or a re-imagining of her favorite TV cartoons on her iPad. Her artwork is another way to escape, she said.
But drawing is just a hobby. With the future ahead, Mihaela Morgan wants to be a caretaker, particularly within her family. She hopes to become an in-home caretaker for her grandfather, who has dementia.
In November, she was named MVP at the Colts and Jaguars football game, where she rode in a limo, went on the field and received a gift bag of Colts merchandise.
She often speaks to families with adopted children or children with autism. Many have told her she brings hope to them and their children. Although she said she appreciates people who have told her this, she wishes to not be someone who is “idolized” because she is just being herself.
“I appreciate everyone being glad and having hope for me and getting hope for their own children, because of me, but it’s like weird for me because this is my norm, this is my life, this is who I am,” she said.
She said despite her struggles dealing with adoption and autism, she would not change how her life played out.
“It isn’t anything I can change, really, and despite me wanting to change who I am in a lot of ways, I know I can’t change autism, and I don’t think I would change that part,” she said.
