The Coburn Blog

Well, last week, I tried calling around to IPFW, Ivy Tech, Indiana Tech, and Grace, and they were out for spring break, so I will have to wait until this week to get ahold of somebody from each school.

I have been thinking hard about what I want to do.. Ivy Tech gave me soo much trouble before, and my VR counselor even told me, one of his other visually impaired female clients, came to him in TEARS one day, about Ivy Tech, and how their facility wouldn’t let someone enter class with her to assist her in seeing the blackboard either, and assistance blowing up stuff, and other such difficulties. My counselor said he ended up getting involved, because this girl wouldn’t stop crying about it. I told my counselor, I says, sounds like Ivy Tech hasn’t improved on their manners any. hehe. oh well.

but anyway, about school, I am thinking seriously about going on voluntary layoff at my job, and go on Social Security, and attending IPFW and stay in the dorms.. Right now it all depends on how much IPFW costs, and how much it costs to stay in the dorms. I have to find all that out, once they get back from spring break. but that is what I would like to do, if its going to be affordable.

I just don’t know at this point, how much I am going to get from VR, and FAFSA. I won’t know that until after I sign up for classes. Susan and I were discussing that option this past weekend, and she thinks its a really good idea, if its doable.. That way, I can attend school at IPFW full-time, get my degree, and then look for employment either in Ft Wayne, or Warsaw, and if I can find something in Ft Wayne after graduation, then just move Susan in with me to Ft Wayne, cuz she would really like to move to Ft Wayne, and if I got my bachelors, I could get any job I wanted pretty much, and if I could find a job making $40, $50, $60 grand a year, she wouldn’t have to work anyway, cuz we’re used to living on $20 grand the two of us combined. hehe. so that would be a big step up for us even if Susan wasn’t working. Susan is coming close to retirement age, which means in the next 10 years, she’ll retire, in which case, I’ll have to find a job to support the both of us at that time.

so I think that is what I have decided to do, if the cost isn’t going to be too much, is attend IPFW and look at staying in the dorms. I don’t really have any family to stay with in Ft Wayne anymore, and living with family would only get in the way of my studies, so going and living in the dorm would be the best option, if its not too much, I just have to find out how much its going to cost, and if I’l get enough to cover the cost, or not.. I hope so, cuz I really would like to get my Bachelors, and go tell Ivy Tech and all their discrimination bullcrap they put me thru all those years ago, to go shove it just kidding but I would like to prove, if not to them, to everyone else with a disability who ever had trouble with a college or university or place of employment, that we ARE capible of getting a degree, not just any degree, but any degree we darn well feel like getting. We don’t try to be difficult, in fact we try to be as polite and friendly to everyone as we possibly can. This is about standing up for our rights as regular individuals.

I don’t think anyone with a disability askes for special treatment, its not what its about, its about asking for FAIR treatment. Every individual, rather they have a disability or not, should have every right to get a fair education. I expect to work my butt off getting this degree, I wouldn’t expect anything less, but in return, I expect to be given the same opportunities as anyone else. If I can’t see a blackboard or overhead projector during class, then thats not getting a fair education, because I as a student are not getting all the information that the other students in the class are getting, which is called discrimination, and its against the LAW. The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, to be exact, and thats just One of Many Federal laws, that have been passed protecting the rights of Disabled citizens. There’s another Discrimination act that was passed in 2001, and another that was passed in 2005, so there are laws in place now, but in the real world, we know that laws written on paper don’t always mean a whole lot. Doctors can do whatever they want, decide not to see you because they don’t like the color of your shirt, so can colleges and universities, so can employers, but the laws are in place for a reason.. I don’t wish to be mean or hateful to anyone, I want to love my neighbor as myself, always have, but God also teaches me, that I must stand up for myself, and not let people walk all over me. If I don’t stand up for myself, noone else will, and thats what I’m starting to learn as I get older.

For instance, if I don’t like my standard of living, only I can change it, but because I have a family to think about over myself now, I can’t just drop everything and go, like I could when I was young, cuz I have a family that needs me first, but I think God gave me this chance for a reason, to teach me how to stand up for myself, and to teach me that if I want my standard of living to change, only I have the power to do something about it, if I can work hard enough to go get it, and I think God feels I am ready now to go get it. At least I will be when I get done with Blind Training and mobility, which will be before I start school.. School doesn’t start until summer, or fall, anyway, so that’ll give me some time to work all this out… but if its doable financially, I’m going all the way, no giving up this time, and no letting my mother get me down like she usually does, I’m going all the way this time..