Highline 2012 first two weeks

 this is my cat smokey she died in may this year.

this is me visiting High line 

 I just attended the Achieve program  

 this is me and Jenni at the celebration  

 this was my first day of the summer program

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this is me and my best friend Erika 

 my first batch of peanut butter cookies

 this is the inside of the house 

 just relaxing at my desk

 the sunset

 this is my new school

 this is the walking path / it hurts my back every day

 this is building 30 / its at the top of the parking lot. 

 pretty flowers 

this is were i take my class 

the parking lot

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 beautiful flowers 

this is me at the totem pole go thunder birds! 

Thank You!

Thank you so much for your lovely comments. I feel deeply touched and happy to be starting a new school in a new place. i am getting ready for this big step. it's going be hard but it's not alwase easy for other people like me. I have to keep pushing myself and be confident. I met some wonderful new people at Highline. Its a great college. My orientation went great. I got to join the summer institute. it's a 2 week program. I liked it a lot. I even met some nice people. I just can't believe I'm attending a new year. thanks again for writing me. warmly Eliza

Welcome to Highline Community College!

Eliza's LONG AWAITED journey of getting to go to college has finally arrived!  Last Sunday, September 9th, Eliza and I headed north with a car full of stuff en route to Highline Community College in Des Moines, WA. Eliza received confirmation earlier in the summer that she would be WELCOME as a student at Highline as part of their ACHIEVE program and would be able to follow her dream of being a college student and take regular college classes alongside her peers in subjects she is interested in learning.
She worked hard all summer preparing for this transition. Living in her own apartment in Ashland, navigating the Rogue Valley buses and attending her favorite - Zumba classes!- at the Y, all independently.   She wasn't the only one learning either...The rest of us learned that sometimes the best thing we can do is move out of the way a little and let Eliza show us what she is capable of!!!

College Advocacy - Eliza's story continues

As Eliza said in a recent speech...."who thought going to college would be this hard?"  That pretty much sums up Eliza's first months of 2012.  She remains dogged in her determination to re-join her peers in the post secondary world of learning, but it hasn't come without its disappointments.  Eliza applied and set her hopes on attending either Edgewood College in Madison, WI or College of Charleston, in South Carolina.  Both of these colleges we found highly commendable and dedicated to having their students fully integrated - where all students learn from and with each other.

In February, we flew to Madison for a 2nd visit to Edgewood and an interview - a first for Eliza.  I was extremely proud of her ability to describe and answer questions put to her about what she wants from college, how she feels about being so far from home, etc.

Realizing Hopes, Following Dreams and the Ripple Effect!

Wow...what a process!  Just when you think - where is this going to go next? - things shift, someone calls, you adjust and try either to keep your head above water or are buoyed completely by the hard work, kind thoughts and amazing gift of support by others equally dedicated to creating a world where EVERYONE matters, EVERYONE has a role, EVERYONE is valued.  I should have learned by now in the blogging world one shouldn't wait so long to write down what's happening...because when you do, you find there is far too much to say. :-)  None the less, here's a snapshot and some of my thoughts on what has transpired in the last month and... as always... we wish to express a HUGE thank you to so many of you who have touched and continue to touch our lives through Eliza's experience. It has had a most definite and amazing ripple effect!

Friends Community School, Westtown School and Sandy Spring Friends School

Welcome to Eliza's BLOG!!!!  Eliza and I have very much appreciated the opportunity to speak to all of you at your respective schools over the last 3 days!  We hope that many of you have found your way to the blog with the help of your new wristbands.:-)

Lots of you have asked how you can help....Here are a few ways:

LIKE US on facebook to show your support, then spread the word to all your friends and get them to do the same!

Write Eliza a letter and let her know what you learned from her presentation and how it has impacted how you feel about people who are different.  The easiest is to just hand them in to your teachers...they have Eliza's address and can send them to her in one batch.  Some of the questions we are curious to hear from you about are:

WELCOME State of the Art Conference Attendees!

WELCOME!  We are thrilled to be a part of the 2011State of the Art Conference on Postsecondary Education and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

Eliza will be speaking today (November 3rd) as one of the keynote panelists at 3:45 about her hopes and dreams for college and about her experience last fall where she enrolled to take a ceramics class, then was dismissed 2/3 of the way through the Quarter.  Come hear Eliza and others share why going to college is important to them.