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

[Gary Wunder]

Hi, Mikayla. This is an important decision for you, and as well-meaning as all of our advice is, you know you better than we know you.

I have never heard a person say, "I wish I had gone directly to college rather than taking the time to go to a training center." On the other hand I have heard many many people say, "I wish I had gone to a training center before college. I had to work myself out of the rut I got into with poor grades because I did not have good travel skills, did not know nearly enough about my technology, had little experience in socializing, making friends, and finding that balance between being a social person and a student. Now I have my training, my grades have improved, and they are more a reflection of what I am learning than were my previous grades, which were more a reflection of the blindness skills I did not have. The problem now is that it is hard to raise my grade point and hard to explain that my grades should be looked at in the context of "before training" and "after training."

Obviously this is a paraphrase of many discussions I have had, but I think that a year off to attend the center makes no difference given the wide range of students who will be beginning their college experience. If you are held back a year in high school, it makes a great deal of difference because you are no longer with the class you have known. You have to face being with people you once regarded as the littler kids. But this is not the case in college.

Good luck in whatever decision you make, and please know that you will always have a listening ear and a group of people who support you every step of the way.



-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Anna Givens via NABS-L
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2017 9:11 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Anna Givens
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Transitioning to college or training center and being almost a senior in high school

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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