Getting Ready for the Spring Semester… Already!

¡Hola amigos(as)!

How’s everyone doing? I just got my schedule set for next semester today. I’ll be taking 2 journalism courses, a physics course (unfortunately,) and a disabilities culture class. The journalism courses are Reporting I, and an ethics of journalism course (I don’t remember the exact names and I’m too lazy to look them up right now!) The physics course will be the biggest challenge, but it meets 2 of my Gen-Ed requirements, so I think the extra work is worth it. According to Bryan, the course I’m taking (Physics 140, How things work,) is one of the courses with the least amount of visual content, and he says another student who is totally blind successfully completed it several years ago — that definitely gives me hope! The disabilities culture course sounds very interesting. It focuses on the history of people with disabilities as well as the different disabilities that exist; it’s an honors course!

I’ll also be taking a swimming class, because swimming is one of my favorite things and it gives me 1 credit hour! The good thing about that class is that it is offered through DRES, so I can schedule it whenever I can fit it in, and I can get individual attention from the instructor.

Now that I’m registered it’s time to forward my schedule to the Text Conversion Office at DRES so they can begin converting my textbooks into alternate formats. Angie Anderson, the head of the Text Conversion Office, sent us an email urging us to forward a copy of our spring schedules to her ASAP. Apparently, there are now 62 students requesting text conversion and captioning services, so it now takes 6-8 weeks for materials to be converted! That’s why all DRES students are entitled to priority registration; most of the other students are not allowed to register until November 12. Once again I’ll be receiving O&M instruction to learn to get to all my classes, but this time everything will be much more organized!

I had to save the best news for last! I won’t be having any classes on Fridays!!! LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!

Have a nice evening, and as always, feel free to ask questions or leave comments!

I’m Finally Over With Midterms!

Guess what fans! I’m finally over with midterms! Hooray for me! I’M SOOO RELIEVED!

The Philosophy exam wasn’t as bad as I imagined. We only had to answer 5 essay questions; each answer had to be about one or two paragraphs long (for someone who loves writing this isn’t so bad!)

I just hope I explained my ideas and examples thoroughly — in Philosophy that can be a bit complicated to do!

The only problem was that today I wasn’t feeling well; I started off with a pretty bad cough on Sunday. Then on Monday I began to develop cold symptoms. I would have been better by today, but since I didn’t rest the symptoms only got worse! Yesterday afternoon I was on the verge of losing my voice; I also had a headache and a slight fever. So, I had no choice but to take the day off today; and it definitely helped (for those of you who know me well you all know I rarely take days off!)

So, my big dilemma was: should I reschedule my Philosophy exam? After carefully thinking about it I decided I might as well get the exam over with — after all, part of what got me sick was the stress of studying for it! At around 12:30 I hopped on a bus to go to DRES and take the exam. All of a sudden I felt somewhat better!

The day off really helped. The cough is subsiding, and I no longer have a headache or fever, so I’ll return to my regularly scheduled activities tomorrow!

How’s everything going at your end?

Midterms, Midterms, Midterms!

Hi Everyone!

Did you all miss me? I haven’t written in so long because I’ve been bombarded with homework and midterms! Besides all the reading and writing I’ve had to do, I’ve also had to study hard for midterms. Last week I had one midterm for my journalism class and one for my psychology class on Wednesday. I felt SOOOO overwhelmed that day! They weren’t too hard, but all the studying I had to do was kind of tough. As one of my psychology classmates pointed out, “at this point most of us are sleep deprived!” I sure was!

How did I take my exams? Well, I scheduled them with DRES — the office for services for students with disabilities at U of I. I could have scheduled them with my instructors or taken them with my classmates, but I decided to take them at DRES to insure I had extended time to finish them — I am allowed twice as much time as the other students. Here’s how the process works: my instructors and I negotiate a time that will be convenient for me to take the exam. After that, I schedule the exam with DRES, and they then contact my instructors to get a copy of the test. Since I requested to do both exams on a computer, my instructors emailed the electronic copies of the exams to the testing center at DRES. In order to read and answer the exams, I used JAWS for Windows (JFW.) For those of you who are unfamiliar with JAWS, it is a type of software known as a screen-reader. Screen-readers make my computer “talk.” JAWS announces the characters I type. It also reads email messages, Microsoft documents, and content on WebPages out loud to me.

Finally, it’s time to take the test and hope the computer doesn’t act up on you! Unfortunately, it did act up on me during my journalism exam, but that’s a complicated story! The staff at the testing center are responsible for turning in my answers to the professors.

The important thing is I finally took those midterms. Now, I’ll have to wait till next week to find out how I did! I have a philosophy midterm two weeks from now, and I’m SOOO excited for that (not!)

Well, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions, concerns, or whatever you wish to tell me!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

I Finally Met a Famous Politician!

Today in my journalism class we had former Gov. Jim Edgar as a guest speaker. He gave a 30 minute talk about the importance journalists have in covering politics. As we know, Gov. Edgar was the last honest governor we’ve had in Illinois (then came Ryan and Blagojevich, and we still don’t know much about Quinn!)

After his talk he gave us a chance to ask questions. Unfortunately since the class is only 50 minutes long, only 4 or 5 students had the honor of exchanging some words with Gov. Edgar (I’m sure many students wanted to ask him a question,) and guess what? I was one of those lucky ones! My question was related to the Blagojevich scandal, and here it is.

After Gov. Blagojevich’s arrest in December you said citizens should pay more attention to the actions of government officials before voting for them. Besides following news reports, in what ways can the average citizen be more informed before voting?

Edgar’s answer was that the best source for information was news coverage of politicians. He also said that although the media had had thorough coverage of Blagojevich’s wrong doings before his reelection, it appeared not many people paid attention to these reports and voted for him anyway.

Anyway, that’s my quick update for now. All I can say is you never know who you’ll talk to here at U of I!

Well, gotta go for now to keep doing homework!

Have a nice remainder of the day!

I Love College Life!

Hello Everyone!

I just realized I haven’t posted in like forever! All the homework has kept me very busy — so far all I’ve had to do is write essays so I really can’t complain since writing is my thing! In one of my last posts Beth suggested I write about college life in general — thanks for your suggestion! Well, now that things are finally getting settled, it’s time to do just that!

As all of you know, I live in a residence hall (Barton to be exact.) I think one can only experience real college life by actually living in the dorms! Well, so far I can’t complain about Barton Hall! Everyone is extremely friendly. I’ve become friends with at least 6 girls from all over the dorm (the hall is for female residents only.) They’re all from different floors, (4 floors total) so apparently I have socialized a lot! None of the girls on my floor want to admit it, but I’m sure they’re all curious about my blindness — just like everyone who hasn’t met a person who is blind before. Still, they have all learned to view me as a person, not just as the “poor blind girl!”

Like most students, I go to dinner (and occasionally to lunch) with my group of friends — although I know my way to the cafeteria I would feel awkward eating all alone! I’ve also met several girls from other residence halls — mainly I’ve met them in my classes. We often walk to class together; they know I’m perfectly capable of traveling independently, but we just do it to socialize a bit!

Overall, everyone in this campus has been very helpful. I’ve especially noticed most foreign students tend to try to help a lot. I’m not making any judgments or stereotypes, but that’s the experience I’ve had so far with students from other countries. I think it’s a cultural difference. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are still viewed as helpless in many parts of the world.

However, not all foreign students are like that! My friend Junga comes from South Korea. Since I usually catch a bus after our Philosophy class we walk to the bus stop together, but she is also aware I’m not expecting her to always accompany me — she knows I know the route perfectly fine.

When I have had to ask for help, people have reacted in different ways. I’ve had people trying to grab me by my shoulder and even by my cane (OH I HATE THAT SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!) Most people are very understanding, and they let me explain how they can assist me best.

O&M update: so far so good! Unfortunately, Laura (the O&M instructor) has only been able to work with me two times during these few weeks, but thanks to the help of Bryan I’ve pretty much learned all my routes! I now know the route to Bevier; I just need to work more on the one from Armory to Gregory. The good thing is that one of my classmates also has a class at Gregory at the same time, so we just walk together.

Well, I think I’ve covered everything for now! If any of you have questions, concerns or comments feel free to ask!

¡Buenas noches!

Formal O&M Training Begins

Hi!

After a weekend full of partying (Peggy is a witness) and relaxing it was finally time for the fun to begin! Today I had my first “formal” O&M lesson from an instructor from the Bureau of Blind Services in Urbana-Champaign. Her name is Laura Hollern, and she seems to be a good instructor. Since Peggy was my only O&M teacher until now, I never realized there is no “right” way of teaching O&M. I mean, all instructors have different views and perspectives on how to teach routes, and there is no right or wrong way, as long as students learn them effectively. I’ve noticed Laura’s style is to teach routes that have the most landmarks regardless of the length of the route.

Today I just “brushed up” on some of the routes I’ve already done, since I still get a bit disoriented at times. For instance, when going to the Armory, I usually follow bushes on the left with my cane so I know where the entrance is (once the bushes end I can turn into the entrance.) The problem I had was finding those bushes since they are at a slight angle. Another thing was the bus stop coming back to my dorm. Usually the bus doesn’t stop at the exact place, so I needed practice on finding the curb to cross (in order to get back to my dorm I have to cross a street.) After 3 or 4 tries on each area I seemed to master those things well.

Since this is Laura’s first time teaching on the U of I campus we decided we would work on more advanced routes next time she came, which will be Thursday afternoon. We’ll meet with Bryan McMurray so he can give her a visual idea of the routes I should work on. The only thing I HATED about this O&M lesson was the time it was at! The only slot Laura had available today was from 7:00-10:00 AM, and since I desperately need O&M, I had no choice but to accept! I know! After a weekend of sleeping in I was forced to wake up at 6:30! Life is SOOO unfair sometimes!

Anyway, that’s my short update. I’ll leave you all for now, because I’m already half asleep as I’m typing this! Luckily, my Journalism (first) class starts at 10:00 tomorrow, and it should be interesting, as we’ll be having a mock press conference!

Night night!

The Learning Continues!

Hello Fan Club!

Sorry for keeping everyone waiting! As most of you know the first couple of weeks at college are very crazy!

Well, I’ve certainly accomplished many things! For one, I finally know my way from my dorm to the cafeteria! One of Peggy Madera’s friends, Trudy Diepholz kindly volunteered her time to work with me on this. We also practiced other routes to and from classes. Bryan Mcmurray and his wife Joanna have also been generous enough to do some “informal” O&M with me on the weekends. Unfortunately, my case from the Division of Rehab Services in Illinois took forever to be transferred to the Champaign office — in order for me to receive O&M services my DORS case had to be transferred from my home office to the office at U of I. Sadly, there was a snag at my home office,. We’ll just leave it at that, because if I keep writing about it I’ll start talking nasty about 1 of the individuals who was supposed to help me! The important thing is that my case is finally here, and I will begin formal O&M training next week.

Another thing I love about campus is their accommodations for students with disabilities. So far all my materials (textbooks, handouts, etc.) have been converted either to Braille or Word documents. The staff at DRES are just awesome!

My professors are also very friendly and accommodating. Something I really liked was that one of my professors introduced herself to me — usually it’s the other way around!

I am completely on my own on Mondays, Wednesdays, and most of the day on Fridays. I will work on learning the routes for Tuesdays and Thursdays once O&M classes get started. In fact, those are my crazy days! I have a class at the Armory, and then I only have 10 minutes to get to Gregory Hall! (Beth, I’m sure you remember how far the Armory is from Gregory) Well, it’s not too bad of a walk, but you certainly have to hurry if you want to get there in 10 minutes! After that I have a class at Bevier Hall, but I have plenty of time to get to that class.

So, overall I’m learning my way around campus without many problems. The only thing is that with construction going on all over the place some of the routes can be inaccessible. Also, since the campus is huge, one can turn into the wrong sidewalk, and get disoriented easily (it has definitely happened to me!)

I’ve really enjoyed my time at U of I until now. The students and staff are very friendly, and the people at my dorm are awesome too!

Finally, I want to thank all of those who helped while the mess with DORS was resolved. Thanks to Peggy, Jill, Bryan, Joanna, and Trudy for volunteering their time to give me some O&M lessons. Also, thanks to those strangers who have been able to give me directions, and in some instances, a hand — literally!

Tomorrow I’ll be heading home for the weekend and will return Monday afternoon. Until then good-bye, and thanks for reading my blog!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, today is my birthday, and I’m still waiting for the presents you all have to send me! *smile* Just kidding! I have to admit my morning was emotionally tough: this is my 1st birthday away from home, so… yeah. I cheered up a bit when I got phone calls from my parents and brother; I’m sure this was a rough day for them too (it better have been!)

As the day progressed, however, my birthday became happier! I made it to my first class in the Armory building independently! Although I needed some assistance in finding the street crossings, I knew where I was going, so that’s what matters — I will practice more of those street crossings later on of course! After coming back to my dorm and having lunch, I successfully overcame another challenge! In order to go to my Psychology class, the easiest route for me is to take a bus and walk for a block or so to the Psychology Building. One good thing of U of I is that their transportation system is very accessible for persons with disabilities. I had practiced taking that particular bus on Monday, but now it was my turn to do it solo, and guess what? I managed just fine!

Since I’m not too familiar with the rest of the rout to the Psychology Building I was met by a volunteer at the bus stop. I will practice that rout, but I feel I’ve definitely accomplished a lot today — for a campus that is over 1460 acres big, I think these are great accomplishments whether you are blind or sighted! Hmm! I guess my birthday turned out to be one of the happiest I will ever have!

Well, I’ll blog more about my 1st week of classes on the weekend! All birthday wishes are greatly appreciated!

And Now, The Journey Begins!

The day is finally here!

After all the shopping, packing, and well, getting a bit lost, I made it safely to my dorm yesterday.

My mom and I began packing at around 10:00 AM in the morning. We sure did not realize I had so much stuff to take! With all the technology, clothing, electronics, and school supplies, we had a very loaded truck!

How could all that stuff possibly fit in the truck?

We left our house at around 1:00 PM. The ride was pretty uneventful, although there were a few moments of silence. After all, this is a new journey for me, and in some ways, for my parents too. By 3:00 we were searching for my dorm. I was assigned to Barton Hall, one of the older dorms on campus. Since Champaign is an unfamiliar location for us we struggled for about 15 minutes finding out where I had to check in, and where Barton is located.

That's my dorm!

Dorm found, truck parked, the action begins! It was now time to bring in my belongings to my room, um, well, my parents and brother took care of that! We began settling and organizing the clothes, tech, etc. into my small room – in fact, I requested a single room because I knew with all the adaptive technology I’d be bringing in, I would need more space. Guess how much unpacking took? About 2 hours! Sheesh! I thought it would take less!

We headed out to Subway to have dinner – my family would be having a long ride home, so it was best for them to eat before taking off!

The time finally came to say our good buys. After dropping me off at my dorm, my parents and brother said their good buys and headed back home – none of them cried, but I’m wondering if this is the case now that they don’t see me at home?

Although I’m very excited about this new journey, I’m also a bit nervous – like all other students. I am relieved, however, that most of my classes are close to my dorm, and that my dorm is easy to navigate independently. Since move in day is today for new students, I won’t have O&M training – it would be almost impossible to do so with all the crowds! I’ll continue practicing either Friday or Monday, and Peggy Madera said she might be able to come on Saturday, just to make sure I get enough practice! Isn’t she an angel!

Meanwhile, my mom showed me the layout of the first floor in my dorm, just so I know what’s around of course! By the way, she did an excellent job!

It looks like this morning I won’t be doing much – I’ll wait til my friend Katie (a junior majoring in English) arrives, and then we will hang out with some of her friends in the afternoon.

Well, I’ll keep you all updated!

Two Days Till Move In Day!

Well, the day is getting near! I’ll be moving into my dorm at Illinois on Wednesday afternoon. My parents and Chris, my brother will be driving me to Champaign; we’ll be leaving at around noon. New students will be moving in on 08/20, but Bryan McMurray strongly suggested I move in a day or two earlier so I can get the feel of the layout of my residence hall — for a person who is blind move in day can be chaotic, especially with 40,000 students on campus!

I’ll blog about my move in experience probably on Wednesday afternoon… Once I get my Internet set up!