Important Updates

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not updating my blog more often. This semester it seems like I have essays and articles due at least once a week, so I’ve been very busy with that. By the time I’m done writing all of those essays I don’t feel like writing anymore! Since I don’t have anything due until Thursday this week I decided to update my blog now while I have time!

I do however update my Facebook page almost every day. Those of you who have Facebook pages know that we can update our “status” by writing short blurbs about what we’ve been up to, so I usually do that once a day.

I’ve decided to compile (and edit) some of the more important status updates on my blog posts. That way those who don’t have Facebook pages can still keep up with my life by reading this blog! So, here are some of the more important updates/events from the last few weeks!

• I had a midterm for my PolySci class a couple of weeks ago. I just got my grade on Monday, I got a B!

• A few weeks ago I was walking back from class. Once I’m familiar with a particular area I walk pretty fast. Anyway, I was using the shoreline technique with my cane, since that particular area has many little sidewalks. For those of you who don’t know what shoreline means, it simple means that we touch things like walls, grass or curbs with our cane when we are walking. This will help us have a point of reference so we don’t veer in the wrong direction. I was walking near the edge of the sidewalk close to the grass, when all of a sudden a girl comes up to me freaking out! I guess she thought I was going to fall and twist my ankle or something since I was so close to the edge. I told her I had received special training since I was little, and that this is what I had been taught to do because I might veer in the wrong direction if I didn’t have a point of reference when walking on the sidewalk. I had another incident like that last Thursday.

• A couple of weeks ago I went to my journalism class at Greg Hall, but when I got there I found out there had been a power outage! Since the computers in the journalism computer labs didn’t work our class was dismissed early. I told my classmates that I was the one who should be guiding them around since sighted people don’t function so well in the dark!

• For my creativity class we have to do a final project where we develop a service or product. There are 20 people in my class, and we all had to submit a proposal for the project. Since we’re working in groups of four, only five of the projects will be done – the class had to vote for the projects we were interested in doing. Anyway, my project was very popular among my class! We’re going to build a website to educate the public about the disability services and programs U of I offers. DRES already has a website explaining the different things they offer, but our website will consist mainly of testimonies from students who receive such services. We also plan to post things like short videos profiling some of the athletes in wheelchairs. Illinois has some of the best wheelchair basketball players and track racers, yet many people from the general public are unaware of the wheelchair sport teams. So, our main plan is to spread disability awareness throughout campus by developing this website.

• Finally, my parents came again last weekend. They brought me plenty of homemade food. They also brought me a very comfy leather chair, which I really love! We had a great time going out and catching up on our lives!

Well, those are the most important updates for now. For those of you who have a Facebook page, please feel free to add me as a friend so you can read my updates. I actually post some English and Spanish updates on that page since a lot of my friends and family are reading.

Enjoy!

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Tags: blindness, Classes, Disabilities, Disability awareness, DRES, ENG 333, Facebook, Fall semester, Final project, Greg hall, Homework, Journalism, Leather chair, Midterms, Parents, Power outage, School, Shoreline, Strangers, U of I, Wheelchair athletics, White cane