[nabs-l] Transitioning to college or training center and being almost a senior in high school

Mon Mar 6 17:37:13 UTC 2017

Hello Mikayla,

I think it is great that you are taking steps to plan for your future beyond high school before starting your senior year in high school. If you are interested in attending an NFB training center, I would encourage you to discuss this with your counselor when you meet with her this month. Simply tell your counselor this is something you would like to do, and then ask her what you would need to do in order to achieve this goal. 

It may be helpful to share some initial reasons why you would like to attend an NFB training center in this conversation. However, if this is your first conversation about the possibility of attending an NFB training center, you should not be required to justify this decision during this meeting with your counselor. It is generally best to justify the reasons why you want to attend an NFB training center in writing. So this is something you could propose to do after you meet with your counselor. 

If you know which NFB training center you would like to attend, you can contact the director of the NFB training center to obtain more information you can use to justify your decision to attend an NFB training center. I believe there may be some sample NFB justification letters in the NABS email list archives. If I happen to see any of them, I will repost them to the email list for you.

As for taking classes at a local community college during your senior year of high school, it might be a good idea to meet with an academic counselor at your high school or the community college to see if this might be a good fit for you. Depending on how it is set up, you may or may not need to discuss this decision with either your voc rehab counselor or your TVI. If you were to take classes at the community college, then I believe your TVI would not be responsible for assisting you with these classes. Instead, you would most likely work with the disabilities office at the community college as if you were a student at the community college. However, it would be best to speak with an academic advisor to find out exactly how this would work for you.

As far as deciding on the best time to attend an NFB training center, this is a rather personal decision that each individual needs to make on their own. However, as an older non-traditional student, I can tell you that your responsibilities in life increase as you get older, and this may make it more difficult for you to find the time to attend an NFB training center if this is something you want to do.

However, I also do not believe that it is absolutely essential for you to attend an NFB training center in order to be successful in your life. I have met some rather successful blind people who did not attend an NFB training center. But if you are interested in attending an NFB training center, I would say the earlier in life you are able to do it, the better off you will be. There will most likely always be some reason why attending an NFB training center does not fit neatly into your life. So making an NFB training center a priority in your life before embarking on a college career that will hopefully lead to volunteer opportunities, internships, job positions, and study abroad opportunities, the better off you will be. 

However, this is simply my opinion, and you need to decide what is best for you based on the circumstances in your own life. Other people can provide you with their opinions and the decisions they made in their lives, but the only person who can make the best decision for you and your life is you.

Warm regards,
Elizabeth

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mikayla Gephart via NABS-L
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2017 3:32 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Mikayla Gephart <mikgephart at icloud.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Transitioning to college or training center and being almost a senior in high school

Hi all,
     Thank you all for your responses.I just found out yesterday in casual conversation that while you are in high school, you can also enroll in courses at the community college I want to attend. I did not know community colleges did that. Nobody at my school told me that. What do you all think of this option? I am just trying to figure all this out. I am an only child, so my parents never went through this with another child. As far as training, should I mention it to my counselor when I meet with her his month? I like her, but am a little nervous. I worry that I will have to justify it on the spot, and also worry about telling my TVI, even though it is not her decision, as her and my counselor work in the same office, and she sometimes can ask a lot of questions about my decision. I know that she will not vocally object, it is not her decision, and that both her and my counselor are there to support me and care about their jobs, but can not help but worry. I know I will have to suck it up eventually. Thank you all again.
Mikayla
> On Mar 2, 2017, at 10:10 PM, Anna Givens via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Mikayla,
> 
> As you mentioned, this is a personal decision for each individual.  
> But with that knowledge, I hear many people say they wish they had gone to training before college, and really why wouldn't you?  Logically it makes sense to learn skills to be independent before you go out into the world independently.  
> There is one alternative that comes to mind, perhaps you do one semester at the community college before training as that may help you understand what the demands of college and independence really are.  This may help you be more focused in training.  
> I see no absolutely no reason to wait til college is over, personally.
> Just my thoughts...
> 
> As far as justification for training, I am not sure where you live but it may do you well to find people in your state that have gone through that process of justification.  Every state is different.
> But the key is to articulate what you would get from an NFB center that you would not get from the state center, and why that matters.  
> 
> Feel free to ask more questions or contact offline if you wish.
> 
> Anna E Givens
> 
>> On Mar 2, 2017, at 7:27 PM, Mikayla Gephart via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>>   I am counting on my Federation family to help me during this time of excitement anticipation, and stress. Next year, I will be a senior in high School. I am planning on starting my college journey at a community college to transition into the college thing, and to get some of my general education courses out of the way. However, I also want to attend an NFB training center, as I know I am not fully independent. I know this is a personal decision for each individual, but what do you guys think about going to a training center before community college, after community college but before going to a four year universityity, or after a four year university? I will also be meeting with my VR counselor soon. I know that you usually have to justify going to a NFB training center as opposed to a state training center. When do you think I should bring this up to my counselor? I like her, but am a little nervous to bring this up to her. Also, how do you justify it positively? I went to the state center’s summer program last summer. It was good, but I feel like I would have a better experience at the NFB center. We had one low vision instructor, and the rest of the instructors were sighted. Also, we went to see a movie, and the theater did not provide audio description. They also do not make us work under blindfold. Any help will be appreciated. My family and I will also be attending convention! Thank you.
>> Best,
>> Mikayla
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