SayWhatClub September 2007 Newsletter

As most of you know, I am on a one-year study sabbatical and I am back in the college classroom. Sitting in that classroom has flooded me with many memories of my college days back in the ’70s. And I’m not just talking about sitting in Washington Square park at NYU drinking Mateus straight from the bottles and smoking cigarettes and discussing Freud. Back then, the U.S was at war with Vietnam and right now we’re again at war but in Iraq.

The BIG difference, is that back in the ’70s, you could walk across any college campus in the United States and know exactly how the students felt about the war. Today, the college is not filled with protesters and bulletin board signs of “get us out NOW.” One cannot sense a feeling of anything concerning the current war. There’s a big indifference on the college campus these days and you certainly would not know how one feels about the war in Iraq by walking across a campus.

The feelings of politics are not the only thing that’s changed on campus though. Back in the ’70s, sitting in a classroom, for me as a hearing-impaired woman, was a very difficult and challenging experience. I always had to get someone’s notes to review the material discussed in class.

Hearing aids were a different species back then. There was no such thing as preferential seating, FM units and asking for rephrasing, let alone repeats from your professor. College classrooms now utilize Power Point presentations, and depending on your Professor, access to online Blackboard features can give you the whole lesson that was discussed in the class.

If you’re not familiar with *Blackboard, ask any kid in college what it is. It’s amazing! It’s a blessing in disguise for the hearing-impaired student. It’s the best-kept secret that should be mandatory in the public school setting to enrich all children.

For the hearing-impaired student, life on the college campus is a new and better experience. Sure we still have strides to make, but we’ve also come a long way, baby! Sitting in my classes today is so much more enriching than it was 30 years ago. Naturally, I’m 30 years older and 30 years wiser. If I was as smart back then as I am now, I certainly would have been a much better student. For now, sitting in the classroom, I’m not distracted the way I was back then. I'm not distracted by good looking men (well, maybe a little) or thinking about which party I’ll be going to tonight. And yet, I can’t help but feel I would never want to go back 30 years and do it all over again. WOW! I guess that means only one thing, Life Is Good.

*For more information on Blackboard technology and accessibility, go to: http://www.blackboard.com/