Wheeling Around Vanderbilt

Leah attempting to drink out of a water fountain

Monday was, like everyday here at VSA, was enjoyable and packed full of fun activities.

The first half of my day was spent in class, though today we had a somewhat unconventional lesson plan. We were split up into pairs, and then each pair was given a wheel chair and a list of items or actions we needed to complete while in the chair. In order to do this for the first half of the day one person was in the chair and one was the designated spotter, we then switched roles after lunch. I was the first to be in the chair, so I spent my morning wheeling around Vandy and assessing just how accessible the campus is. 

Our results from this activity were startling, while the campus meets set standards for accessibility, they do so in fairly inconvenient ways. For instance, the Peabody Library elevator is very very small, so much so that we struggled to get our chairs out of and into it. And when I say we struggled, I mean it took at least three able bodied persons to get one person in a chair in and out. I can't fathom how an unassisted wheel chair user could possibly access the library. 

My ice cream 

Next on the schedule, we had our new arête classes. I’m now in Horror Makeup, so I spent the hour making fake bruises on my fellow VSAers.  

Next we had dinner followed by soft time, I went to Ben and Jerry’s and CVS with some friends before heading back to Hank for our group meetings and eventually my bed. 

Today, our class had a field trip to a company called Permobil which makes wheelchairs. There we had a brief presentation on the mission of the company, and then had a quick tour, later meeting various engineers who work for the company. 

The tour was very interesting, we were able to see the manufacturing process and better understand how exactly they customize their products. The company treats their employees very well, something they're quite proud of. It was also amazing to see just how fast they can complete the assembly of the chairs, each one can be produced only a few days after each other is received.  

The burn I made on my partner

After ours tours we had lunch with the engineers, it was really interesting to hear what led them to pursuing a career in the manufacturing and design of wheel chairs. They also offered some advice on choosing schools and later pursuing jobs. 

For the rest of the day we worked on our cars, figuring out what exactly needed to be modified and what materials we needed.

I then had my arête, where we learned, how to do burns. It was pretty easy, and I think mine turned out pretty well.

Tonight we had a proctor group night, so my group went our to dinner at Chuy’s, a popular tex-mex restaurant. It was fun spending time with them outside of traditional VSA time. Then we all headed home, ready for bed.