Far Away From Addie
When I went home for Thanksgiving break, I finally got to meet Addie, the guide dog puppy-in-training that my family began to train in October!
In September, when my mom first told me that they were going to start doing guide dog training, I was so excited, even though I really wouldn’t be home enough to do much of the training. It’s technically my brother’s community service project, but because of the nature of the training, everyone has to pitch in so that we train Addie the best that we can.
When you train a guide dog puppy, there are all sorts of things that she needs to know how to do by the time she’s given to the specialists for the serious stuff. Things like sitting, laying down, going to the bathroom on command, not eating unless she’s told to, and being used to being around people in public places. And on top of that kind of thing, she also has to know not to do certain things: she isn’t allowed to play with balls (if a ball was bouncing in the street, it wouldn’t be good if she ran after it when a visually-impaired person was relying on her to keep them safe.), she can’t get on the furniture, and she has to ride on the floor of the car.
Being at school 2000 miles away from California means that I’m not going to be a big part of
Addie’s training–one of a few things that makes it hard to be so far away from home. But while being here in Nashville means that I don’t see my family often, there are so many more reasons that I’m so glad that I’m here. Going to school away from home makes going back home that much better–I always look forward to it and it definitely makes me appreciate my family more when I see them.
Also, look forward to a post soon with more about how I decided to go to college at Vanderbilt–practically across the country from home.