[NAGDU] Glad to be on this list!

[Josh Kennedy]

college is a very very expensive, tens of thousands of dollars adventure.
As I told my son, I hope you're ready to pay all those loans back. And so
he decided to get a CDL license when he turns 18 and become a truck driver
instead. as for guide dogs? I really don't think that I could handle
losing a dog every 6 to 8 years and having to go get another one. I really
want a guide animal that will be able to work for 25-30 years, and live
even longer than that if all goes well. As for high school in the late
1990s--I would have done much better in either a special needs class, or
some sort of hybrid model where I would go to the intermediate unit for
three days and the regular mainstream school for the remaining two days.
College or university just was not for me--but everyone, parents, teachers,
church clergy all insisted I had to go to college so I did it to make them
happy. I even believed, for a time, that maybe college, and living in a big
city was the best direction for my life to go in. After all, that's what
everyone kept telling me. And so I did it, and then, several years later, I
got to enjoy the big huge train wreck that my life ended up in... And now
I've been spending the last several years cleaning it up. cleaning up the
mess from the 1990s and early 2000s. I must say the cleaning up process has
its ups and downs, but its all coming together and things are turning out
quite well in spite of the occasional mishap or bump in the road.



On Wed, Jan 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM Julie A. Orozco via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hi Sidney,
>
> Welcome to the list!  I know I'm late to respond to this, but I wanted to
> tell you congratulations for your future guide dog class.
>
> I've worked two guide dogs and am waiting for a class date to get my third.
> When I was 17 years old, I applied and was accepted to get my first dog.
> She
> and I worked together through one year of high school and for my entire
> college career. She retired after my first semester of grad school. I
> worked
> my second dog, Bill, for over 7 years, and he was my heart dog. I am so
> excited for you to start your guide dog adventures and hope you will find
> the perfect match!
>
> Also, I am waiting on a class date from The Seeing Eye, so hopefully we
> will
> both be there sometime this year.
>
> In my experience, Uber denials are worse in bigger cities, but they do
> happen everywhere. I live in the Washington, DC area now, but I grew up in
> St. Louis and lived most my life in Missouri, so I'm loving the Midwest
> vibes here.
>
> College is such an adventure and will be even more so with a dog. All the
> best,
>
> Julie
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sidney Horn via NAGDU
> Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2025 5:22 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Sidney Horn <sidneyh05 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NAGDU] Glad to be on this list!
>
> Hi!
> My name is Sidney, and I'm 19-years-old. I decided to join this list
> because
> ever since late August, into September, I've been doing tons of research on
> guide dogs. I even talked to some friends about them and my Mom told me
> since I am going off to college next year at a university, to reconsider
> the
> idea of having one. Now my parents weren't trying to push me by any means,
> but they at least wanted me to do some more looking into it.
> Starting in September, I initiated an application with The Seeing Eye. I
> quickly got a response from them, filled out the paperwork, got my letter
> of
> recommendations sent in from certain people, and then had my interview with
> their manager with admissions in October.
> I had a juno walk and interview with one of their instructors back in
> December. His name is Chris Mattoon.
> I did also look into other schools as well, like Guide Dogs for the Blind
> and GDF Guide Dog Foundation.) While yes, I did like their programs, I
> wanted to stick with Seeing Eye. They are the oldest school, they were
> quick
> to respond and get me in, and they definitely seem like they know what
> their
> doing.
> As for the other schools, they had extremely long wait lists, and I'll be
> starting at a university in the fall of this year actually.
> I've watched lots of videos and read up on lots of things about guide dogs.
> While they're furry little fluffy guides, they also make wonderful
> companions, and that is just what I need with going off to college.
> On the flip side, though, I have definitely heard lots about rideshare
> denials... I'm in a Facebook group called Guide Dog Handlers Network. I
> joined to hear about others experiences, pros, cons, concerns, ETC.
> I have 2 dogs at home, but they're just pet dogs. Not working dogs. I do
> realize and understand there's a major difference there.
> How have all of your experiences been with your dogs? I feel like denials
> can happen anywhere, but it seems like you see them more often in a bigger
> city. Is that right?
> Sidney
>
> Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
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