I was updating the blog regularly until I went to school. There was just no way to keep it up after that. School was pretty hard for a variety of reasons. Mostly because I can't see very well and it took me a long time to keep up. I did end the semester on the Dean's list, which feels impossibly amazing.
As far as my disability, my macular edema has convinced my LTD insurance company in ways my RP never could. I guess they just understood macular edema better than RP. They told me I've been moved to long term maintenance. They aren't exactly trustworthy but that sounds better than the short term harassment policy they had me on.
Last year I got to travel, this year I went back to school and did well. What am amazing 12 months. Life and visual impairment don't have to suck.
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Friday, March 4, 2016
School Update
It’s spring break which means I can finally come up for a breath and reflect on what’s been going on. Going back to school has been tough, time consuming, enlightening, and interesting. But not very enjoyable.
I last went to college in 1996. Since then, things have, um, changed. If you wore headphones in public twenty years ago, you were square. Now everyone does. Computers were mostly used in labs and laptops were rare and not allowed in class. Citing the internet would get you laughed at. In general, students treated professors with more respect. I’ve been surprised by the amount of arguing, talking, phone using, tardiness, and leaving early the students do. The older the students are, the less this behavior is evident. So it doesn’t happen nearly as much is my senior level classes. I guess the students either mature or leave.
For the most part, the students have shown no interest in my disability. I’m stared at a lot but rarely asked questions. One class took us on a surprise field trip to a garden on campus. I quickly fell behind. In a class of over 70 students, only one noticed, or cared notice, and came back to help me catch up. I will say, I’ve gotten to know my lab partners pretty well and they’re nice, smart and friendly. They’re all surprised when they find out my age. They mostly assume I’m around 30.
This is my first time being a disabled student. I get caught in some tough situation. Professors like to use Powerpoints with the lights off, which makes it impossible for me to take notes. Or an open note quiz is really a reading test for me because I can only see one word for every five a normal person can. Open note quizzes are just quizzes for me. When I have time to do assignments, papers or projects, I usually do pretty well.
Personally, I’m not as fast as I was twenty years ago. I make up for that, I think, with better attention to detail, organization and commitment. Because I transferred in with a degree, I’m taking only major classes, all science. When the labs are added, I’m in class about 20 hours a week. Any one or two classes might have been alright but together their almost too much. Add the time out of class for projects and studying and I’m probably doing 50 - 60 hours of work a week. Most students could probably do it quicker, I just don’t read that fast anymore. I have no idea how my classmates maintain their social lives while being full time.
The professors. Not sure how honest I want to be in this space. They’re smart and generally helpful. I think I’m older than half of them. I have been surprised at how much I have to connect the dots in some classes. There isn’t always a clear narrative between instruction and assignments or tests. This type of behavior wouldn’t cut it in the corporate world I came out of.
I will say that the science I’ve been learning has actually been changing my perspective and helping me see the world in ways I never have. That’s the point of education, or it should be. I hope all the stress I’m under is worth it. I’m not sure how long I can keep up the pace as a full time student. I might need to rethink my approach, slowdown. I want to enjoy this process as well as learn from it.
I last went to college in 1996. Since then, things have, um, changed. If you wore headphones in public twenty years ago, you were square. Now everyone does. Computers were mostly used in labs and laptops were rare and not allowed in class. Citing the internet would get you laughed at. In general, students treated professors with more respect. I’ve been surprised by the amount of arguing, talking, phone using, tardiness, and leaving early the students do. The older the students are, the less this behavior is evident. So it doesn’t happen nearly as much is my senior level classes. I guess the students either mature or leave.
For the most part, the students have shown no interest in my disability. I’m stared at a lot but rarely asked questions. One class took us on a surprise field trip to a garden on campus. I quickly fell behind. In a class of over 70 students, only one noticed, or cared notice, and came back to help me catch up. I will say, I’ve gotten to know my lab partners pretty well and they’re nice, smart and friendly. They’re all surprised when they find out my age. They mostly assume I’m around 30.
This is my first time being a disabled student. I get caught in some tough situation. Professors like to use Powerpoints with the lights off, which makes it impossible for me to take notes. Or an open note quiz is really a reading test for me because I can only see one word for every five a normal person can. Open note quizzes are just quizzes for me. When I have time to do assignments, papers or projects, I usually do pretty well.
Personally, I’m not as fast as I was twenty years ago. I make up for that, I think, with better attention to detail, organization and commitment. Because I transferred in with a degree, I’m taking only major classes, all science. When the labs are added, I’m in class about 20 hours a week. Any one or two classes might have been alright but together their almost too much. Add the time out of class for projects and studying and I’m probably doing 50 - 60 hours of work a week. Most students could probably do it quicker, I just don’t read that fast anymore. I have no idea how my classmates maintain their social lives while being full time.
The professors. Not sure how honest I want to be in this space. They’re smart and generally helpful. I think I’m older than half of them. I have been surprised at how much I have to connect the dots in some classes. There isn’t always a clear narrative between instruction and assignments or tests. This type of behavior wouldn’t cut it in the corporate world I came out of.
I will say that the science I’ve been learning has actually been changing my perspective and helping me see the world in ways I never have. That’s the point of education, or it should be. I hope all the stress I’m under is worth it. I’m not sure how long I can keep up the pace as a full time student. I might need to rethink my approach, slowdown. I want to enjoy this process as well as learn from it.
Friday, January 15, 2016
One Week In
College is a kick in the head. I'm enjoying it but wow. Who takes four science classes in the same semester? It's foolishness.
It's strange being a disabled student. I get looked at a lot when I'm using my cane. I just ignore the stares because to acknowledge them would be even more confusing. I find walking around campus to be stressful. I'm constantly on guard from all the traffic and when I get to my destination I'm tired.
Gripes over. I'm actually enjoying myself. I enjoy having a task to tackle. The people have been nice. Most of my professor's met with me to go over concerns either they had or so I could tell them what I need. I'm optimistic this will work out.
It's strange being a disabled student. I get looked at a lot when I'm using my cane. I just ignore the stares because to acknowledge them would be even more confusing. I find walking around campus to be stressful. I'm constantly on guard from all the traffic and when I get to my destination I'm tired.
Gripes over. I'm actually enjoying myself. I enjoy having a task to tackle. The people have been nice. Most of my professor's met with me to go over concerns either they had or so I could tell them what I need. I'm optimistic this will work out.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
School Updates
School starts on Monday! Can't believe this is happening. I didn't even know this was a possibility until October of of 2015. It has been a bit of an effort to get the Division of the Blind to communicate with the State university I'm going to. They finally paid my tuition so I can start. But I still don't have my books.
Transportation is going to be interesting. My wife will drive me to school in the morning. The afternoon is going to be complicated. I live in a suburb. The city disabled transportation will drop me off close to the house but not at my house. I suspect I'll have to take Uber the rest of the way.
I'm excited. A little nervous. I meet with on campus disabled services tomorrow to see what they can do for me.
Transportation is going to be interesting. My wife will drive me to school in the morning. The afternoon is going to be complicated. I live in a suburb. The city disabled transportation will drop me off close to the house but not at my house. I suspect I'll have to take Uber the rest of the way.
I'm excited. A little nervous. I meet with on campus disabled services tomorrow to see what they can do for me.
Monday, December 7, 2015
College Updates
So, as I've been explaining, I've been offered a scholarship to go back to college but I have to be a full time student and start in January. I have a degree from twenty years ago. This time around I'm disabled due to visual impairment.
That's the background, here's the latest updates.
I'm booked for 7 credit hours and I need to be in 12. Since the university waived my general education requirements, I only have major classes to book. But most of the classes I need to take are entry level for my major and already full. My adviser appealed and got me into 2 classes but so far the appeals haven't worked on any of the other classes.
The interesting question here is, will the State still pay for me to go even if I'm not full time? Is the State flexible enough to let me go to school without being full time? I doubt it. I suspect they'd pay for me to go to classes that aren't required for my degree. But I have yet to ask them. Giving my adviser a shot of getting me in to a couple of classes.
The State made me apply for financial aid, which I was just awarded. My university has given me the option of 5k in student loans per semester. What's odd about that is that it includes room and board expenses. The school has me listed as an adult/off campus student. Typical bureaucracy, doesn't even know what it already knows. I'm not accepting, of course. If the choice was debt or no degree, I'd stick with no degree.
In order to qualify with the disability services on campus, they need a form from my doctor. My doctor's office has said he's working on it but still no paperwork. No one has the same sense of urgency that I have. I want to get my books and get versions I can read from disability services. But I can't.
I'm considering getting some reading glasses made. I won't be able to read super well with them but it will help me in labs were I might not have any other way of viewing information.
I need to book a trip back from school using special transportation to see how that goes and how far they'll take me. Waiting to have a real reason to go to campus first.
That's the background, here's the latest updates.
I'm booked for 7 credit hours and I need to be in 12. Since the university waived my general education requirements, I only have major classes to book. But most of the classes I need to take are entry level for my major and already full. My adviser appealed and got me into 2 classes but so far the appeals haven't worked on any of the other classes.
The interesting question here is, will the State still pay for me to go even if I'm not full time? Is the State flexible enough to let me go to school without being full time? I doubt it. I suspect they'd pay for me to go to classes that aren't required for my degree. But I have yet to ask them. Giving my adviser a shot of getting me in to a couple of classes.
The State made me apply for financial aid, which I was just awarded. My university has given me the option of 5k in student loans per semester. What's odd about that is that it includes room and board expenses. The school has me listed as an adult/off campus student. Typical bureaucracy, doesn't even know what it already knows. I'm not accepting, of course. If the choice was debt or no degree, I'd stick with no degree.
In order to qualify with the disability services on campus, they need a form from my doctor. My doctor's office has said he's working on it but still no paperwork. No one has the same sense of urgency that I have. I want to get my books and get versions I can read from disability services. But I can't.
I'm considering getting some reading glasses made. I won't be able to read super well with them but it will help me in labs were I might not have any other way of viewing information.
I need to book a trip back from school using special transportation to see how that goes and how far they'll take me. Waiting to have a real reason to go to campus first.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
It's Complicated
Going back to college is a complicated business. It's a massive project. Submitting the application was the easiest part. The State is willing to pay for me to go back to school as long as I'm a full time student (12 hours or more) and I have a decision on financial aid.
Booking 12 hours is harder than I expected. I have a college degree from the university I'm going back to. This means they waived all my general education requirements. That means I don't need to take filler elective classes. Yeah! But in my major, I'm a freshman because I haven't taken any of the prerequisites. The end result is I can't sign up for the majority of classes in my major until I get take the base level courses. And they're all booked for the spring semester!
It's a perfect storm of suck. My long suffering adviser has been helping me petition professors to get into their classes. So far I'm up to 7 credit hours. The State won't give me any money until I can show them a schedule with 12. I want to buy my books and start trying to read them but not until I know I can expense them. I can't read them either. I need help from disability services for that. To work with disability services, I've sent a form to my eye doctor to prove to the college that I should get their services. Until then they won't even meet with me. The request has been sent but no progress.
On the transportation front, I've worked out a ride to the school. I live outside of the city limits so the city special transportation won't pick me up. I think the city will bring me home, at least part way. I won't know how far the city will take me until I actually try to book a trip.
On the financial aid front, my request has been submitted and acknowledged but no word. I just need a response. Deny me or accept me, just give me an answer!
There are a lot of moving parts here. A lot to go wrong. But I'm hopeful it will all work out before January.
Booking 12 hours is harder than I expected. I have a college degree from the university I'm going back to. This means they waived all my general education requirements. That means I don't need to take filler elective classes. Yeah! But in my major, I'm a freshman because I haven't taken any of the prerequisites. The end result is I can't sign up for the majority of classes in my major until I get take the base level courses. And they're all booked for the spring semester!
It's a perfect storm of suck. My long suffering adviser has been helping me petition professors to get into their classes. So far I'm up to 7 credit hours. The State won't give me any money until I can show them a schedule with 12. I want to buy my books and start trying to read them but not until I know I can expense them. I can't read them either. I need help from disability services for that. To work with disability services, I've sent a form to my eye doctor to prove to the college that I should get their services. Until then they won't even meet with me. The request has been sent but no progress.
On the transportation front, I've worked out a ride to the school. I live outside of the city limits so the city special transportation won't pick me up. I think the city will bring me home, at least part way. I won't know how far the city will take me until I actually try to book a trip.
On the financial aid front, my request has been submitted and acknowledged but no word. I just need a response. Deny me or accept me, just give me an answer!
There are a lot of moving parts here. A lot to go wrong. But I'm hopeful it will all work out before January.
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