Update on Recent Goings On
Okay so I’ve been busy lately. On Monday I came to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Training Center and have been busy with the WAP (Work Adjustment Program) since then. Luckily I have the weekend off, so yeah. I’ll be staying here until about Christmas time and then I’ll go home until after the New Year. Then I’ll hopefully return to the Center to start training if I don’t start before then! It’s pretty cool so far, and I’ve made a few friends. I’m excited and scared to be here. I’m excited because I’m away from the family and have more independence here than I’ve ever had. I’m scared to death though because I’m not sure how to handle so much freedom so quickly and suddenly! Hopefully it turns out well, though. A positive is that I’ll be away from home for once for NaNoWriMo! This is an experience I look forward to having, for I’ve never been away from home the entire time of NaNo before since I’ve started to do NaNo back in 2009. I’ve always been living at home since then and now I won’t be.
The Perkins Center I am at now is kind of like a college. Its aim is to help people in Kentucky who have mental disabilities learn a job skill (office technology, child care, construction work, etc.) and also learn to live independently. Many of the students here live with parents or other relatives normally. Anyway, it’s set up a bit like a college, with dorms for students to live in and separate dorms for men and women. They have strict rules about men not going to the women’s dorms and vice-versa. The center provides three meals a day, with classes lasting from 8:05 am EST to about 3 pm EST, depending on the job training you’re here to receive. They also have lunch between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm (again, EST), and breaks at 10 am and 2 pm. The program also provides transport to Wal-Mart once a week (Thursdays) after dinner, and can take up to 2 separate trips there, depending on how many people sign up to go that day. You can buy whatever you want or need, except for alcoholic drinks which are strictly prohibited. You can get whatever you can afford to get within reason, and so long as it fits into the bus/van/whatever vehicle you travel there in.
It’s been pretty cool here so far. It hasn’t fully set in yet that I can do whatever I wish within the laws and rules of the center yet though. I’m also still trying to figure out what’s allowed and what isn’t, always asking the women at the dorm desk and the other students questions about that kind of stuff. It’s been pretty exciting and everyone has been really helpful so far! It’s been great.
The Perkins Center I am at now is kind of like a college. Its aim is to help people in Kentucky who have mental disabilities learn a job skill (office technology, child care, construction work, etc.) and also learn to live independently. Many of the students here live with parents or other relatives normally. Anyway, it’s set up a bit like a college, with dorms for students to live in and separate dorms for men and women. They have strict rules about men not going to the women’s dorms and vice-versa. The center provides three meals a day, with classes lasting from 8:05 am EST to about 3 pm EST, depending on the job training you’re here to receive. They also have lunch between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm (again, EST), and breaks at 10 am and 2 pm. The program also provides transport to Wal-Mart once a week (Thursdays) after dinner, and can take up to 2 separate trips there, depending on how many people sign up to go that day. You can buy whatever you want or need, except for alcoholic drinks which are strictly prohibited. You can get whatever you can afford to get within reason, and so long as it fits into the bus/van/whatever vehicle you travel there in.
It’s been pretty cool here so far. It hasn’t fully set in yet that I can do whatever I wish within the laws and rules of the center yet though. I’m also still trying to figure out what’s allowed and what isn’t, always asking the women at the dorm desk and the other students questions about that kind of stuff. It’s been pretty exciting and everyone has been really helpful so far! It’s been great.