[Ccb-alumni] Favorite instructor story.

[Darian Smith]

Valerie,
 I  am not going to lie, that  so far is the single best story i've
heared relating to the summer program!  it's touching, as that is what
it's all about.  That's what you hope to gain from the center and  yet
something that you generally don't tend to understand  till  after the
summer or  twards the end of ITP.
 Thank you for  gifting us with that story!
  Darian

On 11/11/09, Valerie Gibson <valandkayla at gmail.com> wrote:
> EWoods!!!
>
> Eric was the director of the summer program in 04 when i was on that
> program, and i always thought of him as the "sherlock holmes" of
> travel because he seemed to pick up on the smallest things.  I
> remember being on the light rail and he pointed out, and asked us if
> we could fel the train going down a hill or something. he paid
> attention to thinks that may seem trivial to any other person, in
> general, but he taught me to be more observant.  Once, after the
> program, when i was transitioning into ITP, i stayd at his house, and
> we stayed up until two in the morning playing interactive fiction
> games. i love, absolutely love, rpgs, so to me, it was just good fun,
> but what i understood later was that when i was in that dark cave with
> exits and passages to the north and east, i was actually embarking on
> a virtual travel lesson.  Bet you never thought of doing it that way.
> ^^
>
> A very close tie would be Lindsey Palumbo, who was my councellor in
> summer 05, and later a travel instructor in the ITP.  LLindsey helped
> me get over some personal traumatic issues that i'd been going
> through, and i could never thank her enough.  She stayed up in the
> early hours of the morning, talking to me, so that icould get over the
> past and focus on my future.
>
> I remember one time in sumer of 05 when we were at the national
> convention, and a couple of friends and I were hungry. it was around
> eleven AM, and we weren't really much for exploring the area as most
> people were, but we asked another fellow summer student where some
> good places to eat were.  After we recieved the information, we set
> out. When we came to the restaurant in question, we found that it was
> closed.  The group wanted to just go back and order a pizza. It was
> hot and i was hungry, so i told them we could either walk a few more
> blocks, where surely a restaurant would be found, or we could walk the
> four blocks back to the hotel; which sounded better?
>
> Point taken, my group and I set out to find an alternative.  We used
> every travel technique we were taught by our mentors, and i was
> surprised that they actually worked. For the first time, i was
> traveling, not to bring back a business card, but to actually get some
> food for myself and my gang.
> To make a long story short, we found a place to eat which turned out
> to be a breakfast bufet.  After using our nonvisual techniques to get
> food and seat ourselves, it dawnd on us that this was the first time
> that we'd really done something independantly.  And that's when the
> idea struck me.
>
> After getting back to the hotel, we talked to eric, and told him what
> we'd done, but we wanted something. we wanted a way to take the
> instructors there, under sleepshades. Eric said he'd work it out, and
> all we had to do was be ready with sleepshades after sed meeting at
> sed time.
>
> Turns out he yelled at the instructors, telling them that he'd gotten
> word that they were using sighted guide at convention and that he
> expecte better of them. he said that they had failed him, and that
> some students, who were obviously better than they, were going to take
> them out on a travel lesson under sleepshades.
>
> We were waiting in the lobby with our sleepshades, and when the
> councellors came down, they were not happy. they idignantly put on
> their sleepshades, and followed us.   Some of them started to joke
> with us, asking if/when they could take their sleepshades off, as if
> they were really students.  When we got to the doors of the
> restaurant, i told them that we, as students, didn't like being told
> what to do; we didn't like slaving away over a hot stove everyday,
> then being made to go out on travel in the scorching heat.  Some of us
> already knew braille,so we didn't like having to learn something we
> already knew, but for everything that they did, whether we liked it or
> not, we'd like to say ... then everyone at once, as if we'd planned
> it, said, "thank you". and then we explained what we did and we all
> enjoyed a lunch on Eric. lol
>
> The ITP did a lot for me as well, but nothing beats that momentous day
> for me, at the national convention, when we gave back to the
> counsellors for helping us achieve independence.
>
> On 11/11/09, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
>> wow!   I've  always heard great things about Diane.  She's always come
>> off as a very caring individual.  I remember  one conversation during
>> philosiphy class when I asked her if she agreed with everything  as it
>> related to NFB  Philosophy ( something that i think everyone asks any
>> leader in the federation that they respect enough to do so) and  what
>> she told me made  me forever respect her. She  basically said that
>> she  believes in much of  what the federationholds true.  but there
>> were things that she did not  believe in as much.  I found that it was
>> ok to  not believe in everything  that is said all of the time, and
>> from that point, I've   began to  shape my views and understanding and
>> growth here  with the understanding that  I'll not always agree with
>> everything and  that's okay.
>>  As for a person that I  thought was my favorite on staff...  It was
>> and  is still indeed tough. I still   hold dear to me  many people.
>> Julie deeden and Carol and Kimberly as well as Chip and Tom to name a
>> few.
>>   one of the  special  people that I remember would be Samara.  samara
>>  taught me travel and  showed me that  traveling as a blind person was
>> not  so bad and that using a cane is  not   limiting.
>>   That said  everybody taught me something that I'll take with me and
>> I'll forever be proud  of  the accomplishments and the journey.  It
>> still stands as the single best decision I've made  so far.
>>   Darian Smith
>>   ccb04
>>
>> On 11/11/09, Jeremiah B. Beasley <jbeasley at jb11.net> wrote:
>>> This is a hard question to answer as all of my instructors helped to
>>> change
>>> my life!  I would have to say the Diane McGeorge has probably had the
>>> biggest impact on my life and success.  She has and continues to be a
>>> very
>>> positive mentor for me.  She is always direct with me and tells me how it
>>> is.  She has never said things in a way that made me feel inferior or
>>> said
>>> them in a hurtful way.  I don't always like to hear what she is saying
>>> but
>>> I
>>> have learned that she is much wiser then I and she is normally right!  I
>>> may
>>> not like to hear some things she has the courage to say to me but I love
>>> her
>>> for caring enough to say them to me.  She has often said that I am one of
>>> hers and I cannot think of any higher complement.  I was once told that I
>>> was a little Diane because I took the same side of an issue as she did.
>>> I
>>> turned to this person and said THANK YOU!   Diane and Ray are part of my
>>> family and I love them both very much.  I owe my success to them.  They
>>> got
>>> me involved in the NFB and taught me many things.  One of the most
>>> important
>>> lessons that I learned from Diane is that we must care about all blind
>>> people if we are going to be successful in changing the live of blind
>>> people.  I try to live this in my life.  Diane has believed in me when I
>>> have not been able to believe in myself.  For this I will always be
>>> grateful.
>>>
>>> Diane if you are reading this Thanks you and I love you!
>>>
>>> Jeremiah Beasley - Graduated CCB June of 1994
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Darian Smith [mailto:dsmithnfb at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:34 PM
>>> To: Colorado Center for the Blind mailing list
>>> Subject: [Ccb-alumni] Favorite instructor story.
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>>   I know we don't always get a  strong  showing of topics on this list.
>>>   So I wanted to throw out a topic..
>>>    Who is your favorite instructor/staff member at  the CCB when you
>>> were a student and why?
>>>    thanks,
>>>   Darian  CCB 04
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> "And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny
>> calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching
>> before us;
>> if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our
>> slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe
>> past and future generations,
>> then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with
>> you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be
>> done, and
>> usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth."- Baraq Obama
>>
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>
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-- 
"And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny
calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching
before us;
if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our
slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe
past and future generations,
then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with
you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be
done, and
usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth."- Baraq Obama