First three weeks at the RNCB

Well I've been at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNCB) for three weeks now and I'm settling in nicely.  After a year in limbo after being officially diagnosed as visually impaired and finding myself unable to work, I am finally studying at the UK's premier establishment for education and training for the blind and visually impaired.

Getting here:

I found out about the college at the beginning of the year via my local Action for Blind People branch.  After visiting the college on an open day in April and seeing it's excellent facilities,  I decided the RNCB would be a great way to train for work in an area I was interested in and not disimilar to what I had done before (broadcasting graphic design).  I would apply for a course in Music Technology and Media Production.

After many chats with my local DEA (Disabity Employment Advisor) to arrange funding, I had an assessment at the college in August to see if my disabilty was appropriate for the college, that the place would be suitable for my needs, and it would be useful for me to gaining future employment (the whole point in the college).  I spent two days here, being put up in the college's lovely accododation block, with a comprehensive day of interviews by staff from different section of the college.  Though quite intense, the staff made me and the other assessees feel very welcome and that everything was being done to make sure coming to the college would be the right thing for both parties.

So after a few months of finaising funding so that I was able to stay at the residential college whilst keeping my flat back home and benefits for everyday living  (ESA Employment Support Allowance etc) and a CRB (Criminal Records Background) check to see if I was suitable to attend a college with 16 year old plus students, I was given a start date of November 1st.

The first week:

Having been dropped off by my parents on Monday afternoon with all my stuff, I was shown to my "lodge", the accomodation I'd be staying in.  The lodge is like a holiday chalet, with four small bedrooms, a living room, dining area, fully fitted kitchen and two bathrooms.  Not big but plenty of room.  I was alone for a few hours to sort my stuff out before one of my lodgemates turned up, back from half term.  I'd met Jamie (also studying Music Tech) before, when I'd first visited the college for the first time.  Nice to see a friendly face and we spent the everning chatting about the ins and outs of college life.  Because of the roll on/roll off nature of the college people can start at different times.  Jamie had started the beginning of term in September.

I also visited the refectory, where three meals a day are available for students (up to a certain value before you have to pay extra but you get plenty).  Being in a lodge we have breakfast things (cereals, bread, milk, juice) provided at the lodge.  The food is standard canteern style, perfectly edible and with a choice of a few hot meals and sandwiches and some wonderful puddings!  I certainly won't starve here.

All of Tuesday was spent being told all about the college, health and safety, diversity, rules etc.  We were also given an introduction to the college gym.  A long day in all and we were given a provisional timetable.  As well as Music Tech, I had been expecting Braille training, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Mobility (white cane training), these would be timetabled in at a later date.  It all seemed a bit chaotic but I expected it to settle down.

For the rest of the week the lectures started properly (as well as having an iduction at the gym and seeing the nurse for a brief chat about any medical needs and a quick health check).  Having started half way through term, I got a bit worried being thrown in and being told to mic up a drum kit "like you were shown before half term"!  There'd be a lot of catching up to do.  Luckily as the weeks have gone on the lecturers have gone over everything again, reinforcing that had been learned before.  Everything is explained well and I found that a lot in music/sound recording are similar to principles in the visual world (ie compression in sound is like adjusting the levels in a photo in Photoshop) so I'm able to correlate the two and understand it easier.

Settling in:

After a few days, Mobility and ICT were added to the gaps in my timetable and after a lot of hassle (with the college netword not liking Windows Vista and having to upgrade to Windows 7) I could finally get back in contact with the real world from my lodge on the WiFi network (and being connected to the college intranet, email and notice boards).  I'm still waiting to get onto the Braille course, which is frustrating as I think it's going to be the thing I struggle with the most, being a completely new way of thinking.  I see a personal tutor every week and he's on the case.

My other two lodgemates appeared too.  Both totally blind, Kevin is on the same couse as me, a similar age to me and with a guide dog.  I met Owen before at the assessment, a young guy on the Sports Therapy course who is also a keen blind footballer, on the Hereford team and fringes of the England squad.  A nice bunch of guys (as are most of the people around campus and on the course) we have a good laugh.  More to follow on living amongst other blind and VI people.

There aren't quite as many activities available as advertised (or I still haven't found out where they are announced: communication of such things are quite difficult to find (especially difficult before I was online).  Still, I've visited the student bar (The Dog and Cane) a few times and there's always something going on in the other lodges or with other students.  I've walked into Hereford city centre a few times (checking out one of the pubs yesterday!) and there was even a fundraising event for Children in Need this weekend, with a live band. 

I'm certainly settled in now and understand things more in Music Tech.  On my first long white cane training in Mobility I was told I was picking it up very quickly and I think I'm picking up Jaws screen reading software well in ICT (though they are skills I hope I'll never need, if my vision stablises).  Life is very different after living alone for a while, not working, student life again so many years on and being around blind people, but I'll be exploring that in future blog posts.