Dorm / Campus Housing

Seven Places I Don’t Take My Blindness Cane

Seven Places I Don’t Take My Blindness Cane

When I was moving out of my dorm at the end of the school year and rearranging items inside a box, a staff member asked why I don’t take my blindness cane with me everywhere I go. They were wondering how I was able to…

What If I Lock Myself Out Of My Dorm?

What If I Lock Myself Out Of My Dorm?

When I lived in tech internship housing for the summer, I had a small “celebration” with friends when I realized that I had avoided locking myself out of my room for the entire summer. This was particularly impressive because I had struggled with locking myself…

College Scheduling Hacks For Students With Chronic Illness

College Scheduling Hacks For Students With Chronic Illness

As an undergraduate student living with an unpredictable medical condition, I often relied on college scheduling hacks for students with chronic illness to put together a hybrid schedule each semester that would provide options for flexible attendance and easy access to course materials online. This…

How I Set Up My College Desk With Low Vision

How I Set Up My College Desk With Low Vision

Everything at my dorm desk, complete with shopping links

College Move-In Day and Low Vision

College Move-In Day and Low Vision

How my family and I survived college move-in and didn’t lose anything, including our minds

Tips For Keeping A Dorm Room Clean With Chronic Illness

Tips For Keeping A Dorm Room Clean With Chronic Illness

I recently came across a conversation thread on social media talking about how difficult it can be to keep a dorm room clean with chronic illness and how having a messy dorm can be frustrating not only for visitors, but for the person living in…

Campus Addresses Every Student Should Know: College O&M

Campus Addresses Every Student Should Know: College O&M

Important addresses to keep in college, great for orientation and mobility instruction

How I Decorate My Dorm Room With Low Vision

How I Decorate My Dorm Room With Low Vision

I lived in on-campus dorm housing for four years in college, and one of my favorite parts of preparing for the new school year was thinking about how I would decorate my dorm. While a lot of the items in my dorm room remained the…

Managing Chronic Migraines in College

Managing Chronic Migraines in College

I’ve had chronic migraines since I was in high school as a component of a then-undiagnosed neurological condition, which was later diagnosed as Arnold-Chiari Malformation Type 1 (also known as Chiari Malformation or Chiari 1 Malformation). Even though my migraines had a significant impact on…

Organizing A Dorm Mini Fridge With Low Vision

Organizing A Dorm Mini Fridge With Low Vision

While living in a college dorm, I had a mini fridge that I kept next to my desk for storing snacks, small meals, drinks, and ice packs. Having a smaller fridge can make things easier to locate, but organizing a dorm mini fridge is still…

What If I Get A Housing Violation?

What If I Get A Housing Violation?

When I was living in on-campus dorms in college, I received a housing violation that later spiraled into a student conduct violation because I didn’t fix it within the window of when it was issued. This wasn’t intentional, as I had no idea I had…

Seven Things I Tell My College Suitemates About My Disability

Seven Things I Tell My College Suitemates About My Disability

While living on campus with low vision and chronic illness, I shared a bathroom and communal living space with 1-3 other girls, depending on the dorm. In many cases, I was the first person that used a blindness cane or that had a physical disability…