Special Sparkle

 

Bridget Brown

 

 

Hello again

 

I hope you are having a fun Fall so far. Wow, can’t believe that 2022 is flying by.

 I love fall! 

 

My last blog was an interview with my friends Kelly & Karen Neville. I learned so much about their life, and their business “Special Sparkle”.   I hope you enjoyed reading about them.

 

Today, I thought I would give you an update about my new college experience. Maybe some of you are thinking about a post- secondary college experience or some of you might already be in college.   I am excited that some of you might be considering college for your future.

 

I went to College of DuPage for a number of years. That is my local community college.  They have lots of exciting classes there but I was hoping for something more inclusive.  I also did a summer college program during Covid at John Wood Community College online.  That was fun!

 

 So you might be wondering what is my college experience like now.   I currently am a student at UIC (University of Illinois CHICAGO). I am in a new inclusive program called the CO-OP program, under the Disability Studies College.  This program just started up and it is very exciting.

 

I also have an internship in the School of Nursing at UIC.

 

I started last Spring and my first class was called Radical Inclusion.  This was a perfect class for me because I am an inclusion advocate and it gave me information about the history of inclusion so I know how to be a better advocate for people with disabilities. It was very interesting. 

 

 I also took a class called Career building.  This was to help me prepare to get an internship and employment.  I learned how to make a cover page and learned the difference between formal vs informal questions. I also learned how to get a paid internship. Because of this class I now have a paid internship at the nursing simulation lab in the nursing department at UIC.    

During that time, I even made friends because I worked with a team of my peers who were also in the CO-OP program. Being part of this class I learned the importance of being professional in my relationships.

 

Now this Fall I am studying Disability in American film.   I am learning how people with disabilities are portrayed in movies and how that describes their life to people. That can be positive or negative.  I am learning that it is important to hear real voices of people with disabilities so they can share their stories about their lives.

 

I love my internship at the Nursing department.  I have an internship working in the simulation lab. I am also an actress and I work as a patient with a disability so the students can learn about how to work with individuals with disabilities in a health care setting.  It is very exciting and a new program for the nursing department.  I love it!

 

For me college life is wonderful!   Being part of a college and being included in general education classes is great.  I love working in a team with other students who are also in the program and some who are general college students.   I am looking forward to getting to know more students and professionals.  I just love being a student at UIC and working in the nursing department.

 

Life as a student is different but I am learning the ropes of being safe and using self-determination by speaking up for myself and for helping others out. I also learned that classmates are very kind, respectful and that I can trust them.

 

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts about my college experience.  If you are thinking about college, I encourage you to check it out and see what is available in your area and throughout the country.  There are lots of great programs!  I am available to share my experience with you so if you are interested you can contact me and we can talk more about my experience.

 

 

Have a great October and dwell in the possibilities!!
Bridget Brown