[nabs-l] Biggest Transitions from Training to College or College toTraining

[Sami Osborne]

Hi Vejas and all,

Also being a student transitioning from training to college, I'm 
completely with you on these things, although with slightly 
different conditions.
First, you're right about the schedule.  On weekdays, I had to 
get up early every day as if it were a school day (which, by the 
way, it technically was, because we were in training from 9:00 AM 
until 2:30 PM).  In college, though, I find my class schedule to 
be far more efficient.  During the week, the only day I have to 
get up early is on Wednesdays, because, even though I have 
exactly the same schedule on Mondays and Wednesdays, I go home on 
weekends and come back to campus on Monday mornings.  I have a 
class at 8:15 on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Tuesdays and 
Thursdays, I don't start till the afternoon, so I actually get to 
sleep in on those days as if it were a weekend or holiday! That's 
actually good, because I'd the whole morning to complete any 
last-minute assignments that I didn't work on the previous 
day/night.

I also agree about the friends.  In my experience, (yours may be 
a little different,) it's far quicker and easier to make friends 
with other people who are blind than sighted.  I say this from 
personal experience, having transferred to a school for the blind 
from public school (only because I had some major problems in 
public school with some of my teachers and my TVI,) and I've made 
many friends in both places.  For me, (at least right now,) this 
is easier because other blind people are very much like you in 
the sense that they have the same disability, and therefore, 
probably also the same interests as you, and it would be easy to 
engage in conversation.  On a college campus where practically 
all the people there are sighted, it's more difficult because, 
even though it's a relatively small campus, everyone is always 
running around everywhere doing multiple things at once, and so 
therefore, it's hard to find/know where the people that you know 
are when you want to see them.  I also get a little irritated 
sometimes, because (I'm sure you guys have had the same 
experience as me,) many people who are sighted and have never 
seen a blind person before, see your cane and always assume that 
you need help getting somewhere, (like to class,) even though 
it's probably quite obvious that you're confidently walking like 
you know the route.  It also bothers me that, if I'm walking with 
someone (whether I need help or not) they will often tend to grab 
my arm without them even asking me if it's OK to do that, which 
indicates that many sighted people also don't know how to do 
sighted guide properly.  Although I do try my best to not show my 
irritation, (I probably wouldn't have any friends if I did,) I 
still feel it in my mind.
I'm really hoping to join some clubs on campus, which will 
hopefully allow me to make new friends and make them really 
understand my blindness.  Although, now that we're talking making 
friends, I'm a little nervous because I noticed that, (at least 
on my campus,) sometimes, people don't go to an event/activity 
that you want and/or you're a part of.  For instance, last 
semester, I attended a meeting that discussed the study abroad 
program my college offered, but there was practically nobody 
there; I was, as far as I know, the only student there, plus 
there was the guy in charge of the study-abroad program on 
campus, as well as a woman from the university that the program 
is a part of.  So, from that experience, I've learned that it's 
very difficult to know what different people are interested in, 
and whether or not they will take part in any activities that you 
like.  In fact, on my way to this study-abroad meeting, I 
actually ran into one of my roommates, who asked me what I was up 
to.  I told him that I was going to the meeting that discussed 
the study-abroad program, and then I asked him if he was going to 
attend, and he said no.  I have to admit, I was a little 
disappointed by that, and even more disappointed when I realized 
that there were only three of us - myself, (the only student 
there,) plus the two faculty members.

I apologize for the lengthy post, but I hope you understand my 
rambling.  :) 

Thanks and have a nice weekend,

Sami
 ----- Original Message -----
From: Vejas Vasiliauskas via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 17:11:22 -0800
Subject: [nabs-l] Biggest Transitions from Training to College or 
College toTraining

Hi All,
I thought I would start a discussion on what you have felt was 
the biggest adjustment  between going to training and going to 
college.
I attended a training center and have just started college, and 
the two adjustments I most had to face were the schedule, because 
I was used to going to school from 8:00 to 3:00 and then training 
from 8:00 to 5:00 so the schedule is more loose.  The other one 
is that when we were in training, we always had free reign over 
when we could spontaneously visit friends.  Sometimes we didn't 
even knock.  But at school there's a card system, so if you want 
to visit a friend spontaneously in another building you first 
need someone to let you into the building and then hope that the 
friend is there so they can let you in their residence.
How about all of you?
Vejas
_______________________________________________
NABS-L mailing list
NABS-L at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for NABS-L:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ligne14%40ver
izon.net