Monday September 24th 2012

This morning started off very early for hubby and I. We were up before the sun was up at 4:30am. Why you might ask? I had a Micro Economics midterm to take at 8:30am. I boarded the 6:49 train as usual. It was a chilly morning. I live about a 15 minute drive from the train station. There is a closer one but this early in the morning I have to go to a further one. Hubby and I have family and many church families in the area that helps us with rides and transportation. I seriously hate to ask people for rides, but it is a necessity. It’s all good because we either help with gas money or help with other services like babysitting. If there is a will, there is a way. Ok back to topic.

 

I arrived for my Econ midterm at 8:30am. And pre-arranged I had a reader and scribe set up. The reader and scribe was to help with the graphs parts of the test. The test took all of 3 hours. For the multiple choice and short answer I read the questions on the computer using a program called JAWS. It stands for Job Access with Speech. For my calculator I have another adaptive device called a Braille Note Apex. So by the time I was done with the test, I had to rush off to the train to leave for NY. Let’s just say I do not think I did very well on this test. Mental note, never schedule a test when you’re about to leave town, and about to leave town to receive your guide dog/service animal. I could not concentrate at all.

 

Anyone who might have seen me walking to and from the train on this morning must have thought I was drunk, crazy, or something. It was not a good travel day. I got lost in the bell tower area, tripped over a bike, got lost in an intersection, and slipped down a curb. And that was just on the way to take my test. On the way back to the train, it would have been more of the same, but a nice gentleman helped me. An hour train ride up to my part of Philadelphia.

 

Hubby, MIL and FIL were at the train station to pick me up and we left from there. They had pre-loaded the car with all of my luggage. We stopped in New Jersey to set the GPS up and for a bathroom break. It was about a 3 ½ drive. It took us through some of NYC, Queens, and Brooklyn. At one point we were driving right next to the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived here at the school around 4:30pm.

 

I checked in, found my room, and met some of the instructors right away. My room is at the end of the hall. It’s not a big room, but very nice. It reminds me of a college type room, but a lot nicer.

 

**Small note here, when I describe a location or a part of a school, I am only describing it in my terms, in my way. By no means am I describing it to be disrespectful.**

 

I have a private room with bathroom. At The Seeing Eye, or TSE, the room was bigger. I have a double size bed, night stand; a closet, desk, dresser combo type thingy. I was oriented to the building some in the beginning. It’s a fairly big building, with room for 15 students. I could not tell you in what shape it is, as I am still getting lost at this point. Like I said my room at TSE was bigger, but not any nicer than here. This is very modern type of dorms.

 

My family hung around for a little bit, but then had to back on the road. It was hard to say goodbye to my hubby. I was extremely nervous and anxious on the ride up here. My family when to Outback steak house for dinner, which all in itself is not fair! I only mention this because my dinner meal was just as fabulous. For dinner we had was roast boneless chicken breast in a creamy mushroom sauce, baby potatoes, and asparagus. I could not eat the cheesecake because it had eggs in it. *pout*

 

After dinner I did more orientation to the building. I will say for a hearing impaired person the building is extremely echo. The hall in the dorm area is very narrow, and none of us can see how we are going to fit down them with a dog and another person. Around 7 we had our introduction discussion. We officially met our instructors, the instructors that are on this class, and our class mates. There are 10 students, 2 combos, a few who have had guides before, and a few newbies. It’s a pretty good breakdown between women and men. The building has parts, the dorm, the gathering area, the snack area, the dining room, the leather lounge area, and the entry way. There is also a basement with rec room, groom room, work out area, and a computer room. Oh I can’t forget the relieving area for the dogs.

 

Let me talk about the relieving area for the dogs a little bit. I think this is a good comparison point. TSE is a big open area of concrete. Here there is a cover area that I was told is heated area. For all you guide dog handlers, it’s covered and heated in the winter. All I have to say is awesome! I was told in the winter, the snow and ice melt, so that no one slips, and so that it is easier to pick up after the dogs. Personally I think it’s cool. There is nothing worse than trying to pick up after a pup in the snow.

 

After our introduction discussion, I was orientated to more of the building. Finally I was able to get into my room and unpack. I went to bed finally around 11:30am.

 

Oh yeah this is worth mentioning, there are several students here who are from the Doylestown area as I am too. It’s usual to have 2 students in a class from the same area, but 3 of us. Tomorrow is a full day, so I am off to bed.

 

Until next time!