College. . .The Best Four Years of Your Life

As any high school student prepares to go to college it can be an exciting but scary time. This anticipation can be especially daunting for a student with a disability. As a result of being unbearably nervous about attending college, when I was a senior in high school I made a rule in our house that we could not talk about going to college. I was extremely nervous about living independently, having roommates and handling the academic rigor of the college environment.

After 5 and a half years on a college campus and attending both undergraduate and graduate school, I would like to provide some tips on how to survive college with a disability.

1. Contact Disability Support. Make sure that you contact the disability support office at your university a couple months before arriving on campus. You will want to go through the process of disclosing your disability to the department, so you can receive accommodations in your classes and housing.

2. Advocate Advocate Advocate! I cannot stress how important being a self-advocate is to your success as a college student. I quickly learned in college that if you don't ask for what you need you will not receive it. I know that some colleges will email student's accommodation letters to their professors but I would recommend taking the initiative to talk to your professors about your accommodations at the beginning of each semester. I always handed my professors a hard copy of my accommodation letter. This way I could introduce myself to the professor and explain some of the accommodations further.

3. Create relationships with your professors. This is so important because whether it is in the classroom or during a one-on-one meeting, professors can teach you so much. My professors became such a strong support system for me in the college environment.

4. Ask for help when you need it. Whether you need help from a roommate, professor, resident assistant or even a stranger, I quickly learned that people are very willing to help you if you ask. During my last week of college, I had gone to get cupcakes with one of my friends for my student teaching kids. I was walking back into my dorm with my friend when I suddenly tripped and fell on the bricks. I was sitting on the ground with my hand bleeding and I could not get up. My friend could not help me up because her hands were full. A girl came walking by and my friend asked her if she could help me up. In one second, she was literally lifting me up off of the ground without a complaint.

5. Get involved on campus! College has so many clubs and activities to offer that will give you the opportunity to meet people and even take on leadership positions. When I was in college, I became very involved in the clubs that were offered through the School of Education.

College goes by very fast so my suggestion would be to have fun, get to know yourself and major in a field that drives your passions!

Written by Sydney Breslow 

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