Podcast 53  |  transcript

0:07

7 seconds

Hello and thank you for listening to our podcast, Autism Goes to College. I’m Abigail Pay and I’m currently a freshman at Kent State University in Ohio. I am

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16 seconds

also 20 years old and I’m currently in the non-deree career and community studies program at Kent State. I chose Kent State because this program has a

0:23

23 seconds

great fit for me. Um, it’s pretty close to my family in Pennsylvania. I’m also interested in graphic arts and marketing. Um, I’ve also, as of now,

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30 seconds

started a small business and is supporting me with classes in independent living skills. And I’m also getting confidence for whatever is next

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38 seconds

for me. I’m glad to be here and thanks for having me. All right. Um, welcome to the podcast,

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45 seconds

Autism Goes to College. I’m happy to bring you this conversation with Abigail. So, um I know you were looking

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53 seconds

at multiple schools and you landed on um Kent State. Uh could you share some

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1 minute

decisions about or some insights into what schools you looked at and how you made your decision?

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1 minute, 7 seconds

Yeah, so um some of the schools that I happened to look at were um Villanova, I looked at St. Joseph’s. I looked at Kent

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1 minute, 14 seconds

State. I looked at um another one out in Philly. And ultimately it came down to um Kent State was closer to home, closer

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1 minute, 23 seconds

to family. Um it wasn’t a 9 and a half hour drive. I was not Yeah, I was I was not going to have a 5 hour drive that that Nope. No thank you.

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1 minute, 32 seconds

Um so yeah, ultimately it came down to I wanted to stick closer to home. I wanted to stick closer to family. Um especially cuz I have loved ones who are a little bit older who kind of rely on a little

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1 minute, 41 seconds

bit more help. So, in case anything were to happen, I would be like a 30-minute drive away. Um, I don’t currently drive,

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1 minute, 48 seconds

so my parents do pick me up and drive me back and forth. But, um, yeah, but ultimately how it came down to that was it had the program I was looking for. It

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1 minute, 56 seconds

had the people I was looking for. It had a lot to do on the weekends. Um, it had a lot to do during the week. Um, I had plenty of classes, you know, like there

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2 minutes, 5 seconds

were plenty of food options around. So ultimately that was also a decision of going to Kenton City because there was plenty of things to do as compared to oh

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2 minutes, 13 seconds

I also looked at one college um in New York City the um oh what the heck why can’t I think of the name um it’ll come

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2 minutes, 21 seconds

to me but there I looked at one in New York and that was also too far of a drive. So um with the decision in mind I then went back kind of retraced my steps

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2 minutes, 30 seconds

and kind of eliminated one by one I came down to Kent State and knew that’s the one uh that’s where I want to be and I

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2 minutes, 36 seconds

have now been at Kent State for um almost oh and has it been since August.

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2 minutes, 42 seconds

So yeah I’ve been in here since August and I’m currently my second semester.

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2 minutes, 47 seconds

Congratulations. So, it sounds like it was a combination of being close to family and also just really enjoying the program. Um,

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2 minutes, 57 seconds

yeah, it really was. And it’s a very interesting program to say the least.

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3 minutes, 2 seconds

Yeah. Um, I can’t wait to hear more about it. So, it sounds like uh I hear you got some scholarship money. Can you

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3 minutes, 10 seconds

talk to us about how you found scholarships and how that worked? Yeah.

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3 minutes, 15 seconds

So, um I was very very very blessed to know some people in my hometown um in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and through the

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3 minutes, 23 seconds

Democratic Committee um down in my home state and they were very very generous.

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3 minutes, 28 seconds

So, um they offered me I forget I think it was like $1,000 scholarship there and

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3 minutes, 35 seconds

then I applied through uh O uh OVR. I got one from them and then I also got one from um the organization of autism

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3 minutes, 44 seconds

research um through a good friend of mine and he happened to love my interview and loved what I had to say

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3 minutes, 51 seconds

and um offered me the scholarship and I very generously accepted it. Um and that

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3 minutes, 58 seconds

one I think was also about $1,000 or maybe a little bit more. U I I honestly think it was like $1,000 the same way.

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4 minutes, 5 seconds

So, um yeah, that also helped to pay for a very very large amount of my college tuition um to be able to afford to go to

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4 minutes, 13 seconds

Kent State. So, that was um obviously very much um it helped in a lot of aspects. It helped to not only pay for

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4 minutes, 20 seconds

college tuition, but it paid for my classes, it also paid for um some of my food options and whatnot. So, like it covered a large portion of mostly my

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4 minutes, 29 seconds

tuition. Um, I am currently waiting on a couple others, but I won’t find out till May if I get them. So, um, as of now,

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4 minutes, 38 seconds

those are the the two two or three scholarships that I’ve gotten.

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4 minutes, 42 seconds

Well, that’s wonderful. Good luck with your uh upcoming scholarships for May.

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4 minutes, 48 seconds

Um, so you’re living on campus in a dorm at Kent State. Um, and you have a single, but the dorm isn’t dedicated to

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4 minutes, 57 seconds

uh your program. What’s it been like moving into the dorms and moving out of your uh family home?

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5 minutes, 4 seconds

Um, it was very stressful. I’m not going to lie. Moving out of my family home was my whole family was a wreck saying

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5 minutes, 13 seconds

goodbye to me because they had been used to having me for about a good solid 19 20 years of my life. Um, so leaving home

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5 minutes, 21 seconds

was definitely very scary. The nerve-wracking feeling of like, oh no,

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5 minutes, 24 seconds

what now? But moving into the dorms once I got situated um I was in love with it and um you know like I just it was very

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5 minutes, 34 seconds

much um a joy and I have a really great RA.

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5 minutes, 39 seconds

Um she is literally the one of my best friends. Um so I love her dearly. She she just oh she’s such a delight to have

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5 minutes, 48 seconds

around. Um yeah but it is not dedicated to my group. You are absolutely correct on that. Um, it is also with uh regular

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5 minutes, 56 seconds

college students. So, it’s actually nice to be able to talk and meet and hang out with some non non autism program people

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6 minutes, 6 seconds

um and get to experience a little bit of normaly when it comes to dorms. So, I get to see a lot of different faces and meet a lot of different faces and get to

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6 minutes, 14 seconds

spend some time with them. So, that’s also really fun. Um, yeah, it it’s honestly been really quiet. Um, you know, first semester was a little loud.

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6 minutes, 23 seconds

I’m not going to lie.

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6 minutes, 24 seconds

But second semester has definitely been more quiet. Um, which has been kind of a blessing in disguise because I haven’t

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6 minutes, 33 seconds

had to deal with noise problems at night. Um, as much as semester 1. And unfortunately, semester 1, we had a lot of fire evacuations,

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6 minutes, 42 seconds

uh, at the butt dark of like the evening, like the it would be like 11:30 at night and the fire alarms are going off. We’re like,

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6 minutes, 50 seconds

and we have to go outside in the cold. This should be fun.

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6 minutes, 54 seconds

So, that was really unfortunate, but um that’s finally kind of gotten under control and we haven’t had the fire alarms go off in forever. So,

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7 minutes, 1 second

hallelujah. Um that’s great.

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7 minutes, 3 seconds

That’s been really Yeah. It’s been nice to sleep. So,

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7 minutes, 8 seconds

yeah. And it I’m so glad that you have a good RA. Do you know if your RAS get any training on autism or neurodiversity?

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7 minutes, 18 seconds

Yes, they do. So, um, at the I believe it’s like midsummer before we come in in August, um, they get basically a little

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7 minutes, 26 seconds

like side program aside from the regular students, they get like a little side program and they get trained on autism,

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7 minutes, 33 seconds

uh, what to look out for, you know, um,

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7 minutes, 36 seconds

issues that might come up, which unfortunately we did have a lot of that. um between some of my group members.

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7 minutes, 41 seconds

There’s a lot of drama, but um that’s actually subsided now and a lot of us get along finally. Um good.

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7 minutes, 50 seconds

Yeah. But um they do get trained on you know what to look out for. Um if there’s mood swings, if there’s you know fights

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7 minutes, 58 seconds

between anybody like you know or how to deescalate a situation before it escalates support better understanding and resolve conflicts.

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8 minutes, 7 seconds

Yeah, that makes Yeah, exactly. So, um I mean it’s not perfect and it’s, you know, no no program is going to be that

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8 minutes, 16 seconds

way, but she I mean she really does do a good job. And I mean our floor is pretty good with each other. So like we our

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8 minutes, 24 seconds

floor hasn’t really had any massive problems. I mean, there have been other kids from my program who have come come up and shaken things up a little bit,

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8 minutes, 30 seconds

but like my RA has been like the highlight so far of living in a college dorm because

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8 minutes, 38 seconds

you don’t always get of everyone’s different. Every RA is different. Like a lot of people will say like, “Oh, I didn’t have the greatest RA. Oh, I didn’t really have the best like,

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8 minutes, 48 seconds

you know, experience.” But I’ve been very fortunate and very lucky to have a very good support around me. So that’s been a huge blessing to be able to feel comfortable and like I fit in.

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8 minutes, 59 seconds

Um, and our college is a very diverse college. So like they’re very accepting of people with disabilities. Everyone is very kind. They include us in

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9 minutes, 8 seconds

activities. We get to go to basketball games. We get to go to volleyball games.

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9 minutes, 11 seconds

We get to go to gymnastics meets. Like you name it. Any activity that there is,

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9 minutes, 16 seconds

we all go. So um, you know, it’s it’s it’s been a great experience so far.

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9 minutes, 22 seconds

Yeah, that’s really great. Speaking of,

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9 minutes, 26 seconds

you know, the other students and the students in your program, is it a large program or there are a lot of autistic students in it?

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9 minutes, 33 seconds

There are about, I think right now there’s about 10 to 11 of us. We actually had one a couple students from

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9 minutes, 41 seconds

the program in general who have left the college and have left the program just cuz it wasn’t at that right time for them where they just didn’t they didn’t

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9 minutes, 49 seconds

think it was best for them. So, they decided to leave. But as of now, I do think that there is at least 10 or 11 of us and they’re still good group of people. So Mhm.

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9 minutes, 58 seconds

And they all range they all range from different ages to different unique situations. So it’s it’s a but it is a good group. So

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10 minutes, 7 seconds

yeah. Do you have um things that you do to connect with the students in the program beyond classes?

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10 minutes, 14 seconds

Uh yeah. So we also at the beginning of the year we all had dinner together, we all had lunch together, we all had breakfast together. Um, we all really do hang out. We are a tight-knit family.

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10 minutes, 23 seconds

So, um, some of us girls will hang out and do like girls day trip stuff and like, you know, we’ll hang out and laugh, watch movies, you know. Um, we’ll

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10 minutes, 32 seconds

dance have a dance party. We’ll do Tik Tok videos. If you know what Tik Tok is,

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10 minutes, 35 seconds

everybody knows what Tik Tok is. Um, I have a really bad addiction to that. Uh, it’s just it’s Tik Tok much fun, right?

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10 minutes, 44 seconds

Yeah. I spend a lot of time on it, but um like a lot of us girls will just kind of hang out and you know do girl stuff.

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10 minutes, 50 seconds

But we will hang out inside of class and outside of class together as a group sometimes, but at the end of the night we all are kind of exhausted from a long day. Our days start at 7:45 a.m.

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11 minutes

and go until about uh 5 to 5:15 at night. So, and we have like an hour or two break in between our

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11 minutes, 9 seconds

classes. So, we’re pretty exhausted by the time 5:00 hits and we’re like, “It’s time for bed. Good night.” Like, and then we all kind of like go our separate

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11 minutes, 16 seconds

ways and we all hang in our in our own decompress. Yeah.

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11 minutes, 20 seconds

Speaking of the busy days, um, what classes are you taking and how do you pick out your classes?

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11 minutes, 26 seconds

So, right now I’m taking one non autism program um, course and I’m taking intro to yoga, which is so relaxing. I I

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11 minutes, 35 seconds

honestly love it. Um, I have a wonderful teacher. She’s amazing. I love her. Um,

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you know, I love my yoga teacher. I would spend every day in there if I could. Well, I guess I do spend every day in there. Every Tuesday, um, or

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11 minutes, 49 seconds

every, no, every Wednesday, I’m sorry, every Wednesday I’ll be in there. But, um, yeah. So, I’m

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11 minutes, 56 seconds

taking one regular KSU courses, which they call KSU courses because it’s a regular college ed class. Yeah. Ken State class.

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12 minutes, 5 seconds

And then I’m taking um, you know, human relationships. I’m taking um what we

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call um like uh personal uh uh person planet centered planning.

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12 minutes, 18 seconds

So PPC. Yeah. Person centered planning.

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12 minutes, 21 seconds

Yeah. Yeah. PCP or P Yeah. PCP. Yeah.

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PCP. Yeah. Um I’m also taking um disability and the laws. So that’s also a really interesting class. I just

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12 minutes, 32 seconds

started today. So that one just got started. Um so I haven’t really learned much there yet. I will um as time goes throughout the next couple of months,

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but um yeah, and I’m also taking a couple other disability related courses in the autism program in specific. So,

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12 minutes, 48 seconds

um yeah, those are just some of the other courses that I take.

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12 minutes, 52 seconds

That makes sense. And I know that you’re in a 4-year program, but there’s also a two-year option in the program. How did you choose between two and four years?

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13 minutes, 1 second

Four years might feel like a big commitment to some people.

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13 minutes, 5 seconds

So, how I chose that was I it kind of goes year by year. So, like I can decide to change it throughout the year. If I decide, hey, I want to stay in four

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13 minutes, 14 seconds

years, great. If I want to change in two years, that’s also an option. And at the end of the semester, I can change it and say, hey, I want to do two years. Hey, I

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13 minutes, 22 seconds

want to stay with the four years. So, as of now, I’m still doing the four-year.

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13 minutes, 27 seconds

me and my mom have decided and my dad have decided to um take it just year by year and whenever we like if I find that

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13 minutes, 35 seconds

at the end of the semester I’m like you know I really don’t want to be in the four year anymore I want to go to the two-year I have that option. So it’s it I it’s very flexible so I can fluctuate

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13 minutes, 43 seconds

on what I want to do. So if I’m like hey I’m not going to get anything out of four years okay great I can switch over to two years or if I’m like hey I’m

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13 minutes, 51 seconds

barely going to get anything out of like I want to keep going. Yeah, exactly. If I want to do that, I can say, “Hey, I really want to stay in the four-year and

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13 minutes, 59 seconds

they’ll put me in the four-year.” So, as of now, I’ve not switched. I’m still in the four-year program as of now. Yeah. Do you like the four-year program?

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14 minutes, 7 seconds

Um, yeah, I do for now. Um, I’m really happy where I’m at now. I say that kind of hesitantly because like every day I kind of think I switch my mind up a

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14 minutes, 16 seconds

little bit of like I want to do this, I want to do that, I want like I kind of I go back and forth, but um yeah, it’s great to have options, but

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14 minutes, 24 seconds

that can also be you know, how do you commit? Um yeah, it’s yeah, it’s definitely a lot to think about, but like for now I’m

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14 minutes, 33 seconds

pretty happy in where I’m at. So that’s great. Um, and how would you

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14 minutes, 39 seconds

compare high school to college? Like did you have an IEP in high school? And are you finding similar supports in college?

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14 minutes, 49 seconds

Yes. So, um, I did have an IEP from I believe it was third grade, second or third grade all the way up to my senior year of high school.

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14 minutes, 58 seconds

Um, unfortunately, high school was very, very challenging and a lot more strict. I’m sorry.

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15 minutes, 5 seconds

high school is just like you don’t have an option to skip classes. Um no, there’s not much flexibility.

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15 minutes, 11 seconds

Yeah. Like and like you’re you’re mandated to to take PE and whatnot, which we’re it’s the same way here.

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15 minutes, 17 seconds

You’re mandated to take at least a year of um like kind of like PE. They don’t call it PE anymore. They call it like physical education. So PH for short.

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15 minutes, 25 seconds

Yeah. um or physical or I guess PE is still what they call it, but they they say like you have to take a semester

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15 minutes, 34 seconds

worth of that. So, I take yoga for my PE course. Yeah.

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15 minutes, 39 seconds

Um cuz I was like, I’m not running. I’m not doing track. I’m not doing football.

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15 minutes, 44 seconds

I was like, I I’ll do yoga. So, um we also had the option to do ballroom dancing, but the teacher is not very friendly from what I’ve heard in ballroom dancing. So,

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15 minutes, 54 seconds

I was like, “We’re going to stick it safe and we’re going to do yoga.” Um,

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15 minutes, 57 seconds

and I love it and I don’t regret that choice. I love yoga and the teacher’s awesome.

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Um, and it’s very relaxing. So, I’m very happy that I chose that.

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16 minutes, 6 seconds

It sounds much more inclusive and calm than a high school gym class would be.

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16 minutes, 11 seconds

Yes. Oh, yes. Um, and you get put in with regular like regular students for those classes. You don’t have like a,

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you know, special education room. you have you get to socialize with regular students at Kent State in whatever

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16 minutes, 27 seconds

course you take. So that’s also been really nice to socialize with regular kids. Um and I mean everyone pretty much keeps to themselves. Like everyone’s

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16 minutes, 36 seconds

really sweet. Everyone’s really nice here. Like there’s not been any instances of fights or bullying or like you know everybody here is so chill which is so nice.

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16 minutes, 46 seconds

Yeah. And is that pretty different from high school? Like was there social fading and bullying in high school?

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16 minutes, 53 seconds

Yes. Unfortunately, I went through a lot of physical and mental bullying.

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16 minutes, 58 seconds

Um unfortunately I was yeah what they called the victim of um bullying. We believe it was related to my disability.

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17 minutes, 6 seconds

We don’t know for sure. Um but you know it was I had things that hit the back of my head. I had things that hit the side

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17 minutes, 14 seconds

of my head. Um I had a lot of kids who phys I had bruises. Um They were assaulting you. That’s awful.

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17 minutes, 21 seconds

Yeah, it it was very nerve-wracking and it caused a lot of trauma and it caused a lot of like just really bad negative

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17 minutes, 28 seconds

thoughts to get to my head. And I’m very lucky at that time that I had a very very close friend of mine who essentially saved my life. Thank you very much to my best friend by the way.

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17 minutes, 38 seconds

That was I will forever hold you high for that. Um but you know, college is a lot different in a better way. there’s a

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17 minutes, 46 seconds

little bit more there’s a little bit more freedom and it’s like you’re still expected to go to class but like you know if you have good

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17 minutes, 54 seconds

grades you’re allowed to skip one or two courses um per week or like you know whatever class you decide you want to skip but you have to

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18 minutes, 3 seconds

be the one to check your grade and be like hey I’m falling down gradewise I need to go to class or hey I’m on good

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standing I can afford to skip a class or two but I try really hard not to do that because I learned my lesson the hard way

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18 minutes, 18 seconds

first semester. Um that was really tough. But you know it it everybody’s

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18 minutes, 25 seconds

different. But um in terms of like social, yeah, social you get to interact a lot more with regular kids and kids here are a lot more mature than they are

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in high school. So that’s also really nice.

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18 minutes, 36 seconds

Yeah. And speaking of the social life on campus, are you finding that you’re going to events and maybe like sports games or other things? How’s that?

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18 minutes, 46 seconds

So, I actually have been to a couple really good basketball games. Um, and then I’ve been to a couple gymnastics meets and like open gymnastics. Um, like

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18 minutes, 55 seconds

before real competition started, I went to like their preseason.

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18 minutes, 59 seconds

So, I’ve gone to a lot of gymnastics and basketball. Um, those typically the gymnastics are more on the weekends and then basketball is during the week. So,

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19 minutes, 7 seconds

like there’s one tonight, but um I chose to do this instead so that I get a little bit more flexibility. for spending the night with us.

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19 minutes, 14 seconds

Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I would not miss this. No way. Um but um you know there it’s a a little bit more flexibility as

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19 minutes, 22 seconds

to what I want to do at night. So, you know, I typically eat dinner and then I go hang out with friends and then I come

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19 minutes, 29 seconds

back and like um you know, I kind of chill out. But um you know, like I don’t we’re so unfortunately the hard thing is

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19 minutes, 37 seconds

we’re not allowed to leave campus during the week. Mhm.

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Um if we want to, we have to ask our program supervisor if we’re allowed to.

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19 minutes, 45 seconds

Um typically the answer is no. But I’m actually pretty glad that it’s that way.

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19 minutes, 49 seconds

I’m actually not like Yeah. It’s good that there’s some structure.

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19 minutes, 55 seconds

Yeah. But uh for me, I do also get to leave on weekends cuz I do a church event on Sundays and there’s a church right across the road from my college.

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20 minutes, 3 seconds

And so I have permission on weekends,

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20 minutes, 4 seconds

Saturdays, and Sundays to go off campus to go do those events. Um, and I’m also a very fortunate person. I’m very fortunate to be a part of two teams um,

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20 minutes, 14 seconds

at that church. So, I keep myself pretty busy um, vocalwise and like schedule-wise. I’m

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20 minutes, 21 seconds

very tight on time. I barely get to sleep on Sundays because I’m always somewhere. So, there’s that. Um, and I

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20 minutes, 30 seconds

don’t regret that either. Best decision I ever made. Um, and I also have a great support team around that church, too.

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So, like I have a lot of very great supportive people who, you know,

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regardless if I have a disability or not, they’re very supportive. So,

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that’s wonderful. Yeah. I always enjoyed being busy and and having a lot to do when I was in college. And it sounds like you like that.

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20 minutes, 51 seconds

Yeah. I I love I’m a very hands-on person. If I’m if I don’t have something to do, I will lose my mind. So,

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20 minutes, 59 seconds

Okay. Um, and I hear that you’ve taken up karaoke or maybe that was a long-standing.

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21 minutes, 7 seconds

Uh, so yes, you are. Yes. So I am currently doing karaoke. Um, at our college we have like this like little

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21 minutes, 14 seconds

restaurant in like what we call our student center or I guess the union if you if that’s what other people call it.

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21 minutes, 19 seconds

Um, we call it the Kent State University student center. in the bottom of our student center there’s like a little food restaurant and it has like a karaoke stand and whatnot and like

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21 minutes, 28 seconds

there’s like a stage so a lot of us will go during the week and do that with the regular ed like the regular students a lot of people show up for that so we

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21 minutes, 36 seconds

love to sing and do fun activities um so there are that’s one of our probably my favorite activities that I’ve done um

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21 minutes, 44 seconds

the other favorite that I’ve done is I went to a movie night at our pool which is like a 20 minuteish walk u it’s not bad um It’s pretty close. It’s just a

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21 minutes, 54 seconds

little bit of a walk, but we watched uh Lilo and Stitch, the new version at the pool. That was my other favorite cuz we got to like sit in the pool and watch a movie.

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22 minutes, 2 seconds

Yeah.

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Interesting. So, you could like float and watch. Yeah. Cool.

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22 minutes, 8 seconds

Yeah. Um, and like what are you looking forward to uh as the semester progresses

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or next year? Um, next year I’m looking forward to rooming with two of my other best friends who are girlfriends. Um, so

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22 minutes, 24 seconds

three of us girls are going to room together um in another building. Um,

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22 minutes, 30 seconds

yeah. So, at the end of the year, I have the option to move out of my current dorm and room with someone or if I decide I want to stay in my room as a

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22 minutes, 39 seconds

single, but I’m actually looking forward to having um, one of my friends is from the program I’m in and one of them is a regular student. So, us three girls get

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22 minutes, 47 seconds

along really well and um we giggle and laugh just about every day. There’s not a day we’re not talking. So, we’re gonna room together. Yeah. And so, we’re gonna

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22 minutes, 55 seconds

room together um next year all the way up until our senior year. So,

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23 minutes

Oh, wonderful. Um I’m glad that that’s working out and that you made some friends that will be roommates um I’m

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23 minutes, 8 seconds

still in touch with my roommates from college.

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23 minutes, 10 seconds

Yeah, it’s it’s they’re great girls and they’re very fun to be around. So, I I love them a lot.

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23 minutes, 17 seconds

Wonderful. Um, and you know,

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23 minutes, 20 seconds

particularly for students who are looking at similar non-deree programs,

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23 minutes, 24 seconds

do you have advice on how to succeed in college, how to how to make friends like that?

23:31

23 minutes, 31 seconds

Yeah. So, honestly, branch out. Don’t be afraid to find what you love. Find things that will interest you. Um, talk

23:40

23 minutes, 40 seconds

to people in your program. um try to make a couple friends outside of your program because you never know who you’re going to meet. Um that’s how I

23:47

23 minutes, 47 seconds

found one of my best friends. Um was me and her just happened to like be on the same app for college and we started talking and we hit it off really well

23:56

23 minutes, 56 seconds

and became friends from there on. Um and we found out we live in the same city which is actually very cool. Um actually

24:04

24 minutes, 4 seconds

two my and my other girlfriend actually lives in Pittsburgh too. So all three of us live in the same city just in separate areas. So, but we’re both Yeah,

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24 minutes, 12 seconds

but we’re about we’re all about 40 minutes from each other, so which isn’t bad. So, not at all. But, you know, branch out, have fun,

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24 minutes, 20 seconds

relax. Um, you know, try to sleep. I learned that the hard way my first semester. I really struggled with sleep.

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24 minutes, 28 seconds

Um, I suffered from anxiety attacks as well. So, I was constantly calling my boyfriend and constantly had friends

24:36

24 minutes, 36 seconds

around me to try to chill me out a little bit because I was so anxious for being away from home. So,

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24 minutes, 42 seconds

um that was definitely hard, but I my second semester I have gotten better about that and I’ve gotten better at sleeping. So, you know, don’t be afraid to take a melatonin or you know,

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24 minutes, 51 seconds

whatever might help you.

24:52

24 minutes, 52 seconds

Um or listen to Yeah, exactly. But also rain apps or if you have like a quiet app on your phone like one that will play like calming

25:00

25 minutes

sounds that also help me. Um yeah definitely me too.

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25 minutes, 5 seconds

I’m also on a medication for separate things. So you know don’t stop taking your medication that’s prescribed by your doctor. Please don’t do that. I

25:14

25 minutes, 14 seconds

learned that as well the hard way. Um don’t do that. It’s not smart at all.

25:21

25 minutes, 21 seconds

Taking care of your health is really important.

25:24

25 minutes, 24 seconds

Yeah. So, um, but yeah, just enjoy it while it lasts. Um, take in every moment that you can. Um, I’ve also been a part

25:33

25 minutes, 33 seconds

of the theater group, so I’ve gone to see a lot of theater shows and I’m currently trying out for show. Um, I’m waiting to hear if I got in. I don’t

25:40

25 minutes, 40 seconds

know. I was hoping to hear by end of this week, maybe next week. We’ll see. So, um, you know,

25:47

25 minutes, 47 seconds

keep yourself busy as busy as possible because then the last time you had to be sad about missing home. Um, it’s just that I found that was the best way for me to keep my mind off of missing home was to keep myself busy. So,

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25 minutes, 59 seconds

yeah, take advantage of the opportunities. Um, and it certainly sounds like you have.

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26 minutes, 4 seconds

Yes. So take, like you said, take advantage of the opportunities, branch out, make friends, go to different activities on campus, whether that be

26:12

26 minutes, 12 seconds

art gra uh art, art, crafts, arts and crafts or music or karaoke or basketball

26:19

26 minutes, 19 seconds

or gymnastics. Find something you love and continue to go because you’re not going to regret that. So yeah,

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26 minutes, 27 seconds

absolutely.

26:29

26 minutes, 29 seconds

Oh, yeah. And I’m glad that Ken State has been such a good fit for you and that you’re having so much fun and you

26:36

26 minutes, 36 seconds

know it’s been great it sounds like so far.

26:40

26 minutes, 40 seconds

Yeah, I I love it and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret my decision of coming to Kent State. At first it was a little hard but um you

26:48

26 minutes, 48 seconds

know it’s it’s a great school. The the surrounding area is really nice. Um there’s plenty to do downtown. We have a really cute downtown area. Um, and yeah,

26:58

26 minutes, 58 seconds

it honestly it’s it’s awesome here. So, I love it. Home away from home. That’s great.

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27 minutes, 6 seconds

All right. Thank you so much for coming on our podcast and um hopefully your advice will be really helpful to other

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27 minutes, 13 seconds

students who are looking to uh consider a program like this one.

27:19

27 minutes, 19 seconds

Yeah, there are so many programs that I know of. So, but yeah, I’m I’m grateful to be here and uh I’m glad that uh you

27:26

27 minutes, 26 seconds

guys asked me to be here and I’m uh this was a lot of fun. So, thank you.

27:30

27 minutes, 30 seconds

Yeah, I mean we’re so happy to have you and and your enthusiasm for your program just speaks for itself, you know, and I

27:37

27 minutes, 37 seconds

think college is such a time of opportunity and you’re really taking advantage of everything that’s on offer.

27:44

27 minutes, 44 seconds

Yeah. I mean, it’s a blast. So, thank you for having me. Well, I’m glad you’re having a blast.