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Volume 38 Issue 11
March 27, 2001

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Student faces challenges in daily life

BY LISA SCOTT
FOR THE MESA LEGEND
Submitted March 27, 2001

I am a disabled veteran confined to a wheelchair due to a back injury. I am also challenged by Degenerative Arthritis, inoperative carpeltunnel syndrome, and I am hearing impaired.

I am a new transfer student to MCC and getting around the campus and using its facilities is a challenge.

Sara Code/MESA LEGEND

MCC student Lisa Scott faces struggles maneuvering around MCC’s large campus.

The following journal entries depict an average week for me at MCC.

Monday 10 a.m.
I am early enough to find an available handicap parking space. I maneuver my way through students who do not see me because I am in my wheelchair.

I get to the doorway entrance of my first class; I pull the door open and pull myself into the classroom by using the doorframe as a brace.

Thankfully, the special desk I requested from Disability Resources has arrived. The class goes smoothly except for the instructor who overlooks me while handing out an assignment sheet.

My next class starts in just ten minutes, so I hurry to get to it. A student helps me get out the door.

The clock tower bells ring just as I pull myself through another doorway.

In my second class, I sit at the front of the classroom with my wheelchair-accessible desk pushed right up to the professor’s desk.

The only problem I deal with in this class is the computer that sits on the professor’s desk.

It blocks my view, so I cannot see the professor’s face when she is talking and I cannot read her lips. I am also not able to see what she is writing on the board, which makes it difficult to take notes. The rest of my day on campus goes smoothly.

Wednesday 4:30 p.m.
Today, my first class meets in the library for research.

I try to open the front door to the library using the electronic door. It is broken. Thankfully there is a student nearby who assists me with the door.

To access the main floor of the library, I must use the ramp, which is very steep. It gives me my early morning workout.

I then roll over to the checkout desk to ask for assistance in reaching books that are on the higher shelves of the library.

The librarian is very helpful in assisting me. I spend the majority of my first hour at the checkout counter waiting for assistance.

Despite my wait, I must leave the library without a book checked out so I can make it to my next class on time.

Immediately following my second class, I have an appointment with Jack Clevinger in the disabilities office. Jack assists me and other disabled students on campus with special requests or complaints.

After my meeting with Jack, I go to the Kirk Center to get a cup of coffee and to use the restroom.

I wave my arms to get the attention of the employee at the coffee stand but it takes a while for her to see me.

The entrance to the bathroom is narrow and curved, impossible for anyone in a wheelchair to navigate through, but I am able to get in with the help of a student.

As always, the only stall that is being utilized is the handicapped stall. When the person leaves the stall I notice she is not disabled.

With the help of a student, I am able to get out again.

I go back to the library where I am confronted with the same difficulties. After leaving the library I go out to my car and leave campus for the day.

Friday 11 a.m.
My first two classes go the same as usual. Finding parking in the morning is again no problem.

I briefly visit with people in the Mesa Legend office, where the desks and table are pushed much too close together for me to fit between.

Now I head to my car. The rain slows my mobility.

I am ready to end my week.

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