Twenty Phase I Scholars attended their first DO-IT Summer Study session at the University of Washington in August of 2001. They learned about college life and participated in college and work preparation activities. Throughout the year, they communicate with each other and other DO-IT participants. They use the Internet to support their academic studies, and they complete projects in exciting fields that include science, engineering, mathematics, technology, and business.
My name is Brandon. I have lived in Seattle since I was six. I'll be 16 on August 25th. I'll be in 10th grade next year, and I want to do Running Start. I want my first job to be one that I like and that pays well. It would probably be a computing job. I have quadriplegia, but I will move again. The most important thing about me is that I will be your friend and support you when you need it.
Hi, my name is Brad. I will be a senior in high school. I hope to one day have a profession that has something to do with math or science and also allows me to be in nature and use a computer. I think this will probably lead to something like studying the plant life or animals in a rainforest or something with a laptop. I like to play computer games and read in my free time. Look, up in the sky; it's a bird; it's a plane; NO, it's super Quog.
Hello. My name is Chris and I am a junior at Kelso High School. I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which causes the gradual wasting away of the muscles. Math and history are my favorite subjects in school. My goals in life are to attend the University of Washington and become an aeronautical engineer for Boeing. It is my hope that DO-IT will give me every chance to accomplish my goals.
My name is Elizabeth. I am sixteen years old. I will be starting my junior year at Shelton High School in the fall. I have Cerebral Palsy, which came as a result of a lack of oxygen at birth. Recently I joined the Service Club. My favorite subjects in school are English and science. I want to go to college to become an author or a journalist. At DO-IT, I want to have the chance to learn what college life is like, to meet people with similar disabilities as me, and to make new friends. I enjoy writing, reading, listening to music, watching Mariners baseball, and hanging out with friends. Most importantly, I want everyone to know that after living with CP for sixteen years, I know that being disabled is ok, and that I will always have strengths and weaknesses. No matter what happens, I am still me, and will always be me. Having a positive attitude is a way for anyone to meet challenges, no matter who they are, or what the challenge.
My name is Jeff, and I am going into my junior year at high school. I have Attention Deficit Disorder, which is a mental disability; it is hard for me to stay focused when I need to focus and it breaks my concentration when I need to pay attention to something else. I also have an auditory processing disorder, which makes it hard for me to figure out the meaning behind things I hear. I like most things involving engineering, math, and technology. I like using math and computers to make art, and I like figuring out how stuff works. My favorite subjects in school are art and math. I want a career working with computers and electronics. I have learned almost everything I know over the Internet, and I think DO-IT will help me a lot.
My name is Caleb, and I will be in 11th grade this fall at Burlington-Edison High School. There are 6 in my family. Besides my mom and dad, I have 1 sister and 2 brothers. I am legally blind, and I use a wheelchair. My favorite school subject is science.
Hi. My name is Raechell, and I will be in 12th grade. I have four sisters and two brothers, all younger than me. This past year, I did Special Olympics track and field. I plan on bowling, participating in Spanish club, and doing track this coming school year. I am a C7 quad, profoundly deaf, and respiratory fragile. I speak English as well as American Sign Language. I love math and science. It's all logical and there's always an answer. My favorite school subjects include math, science, and jewelry. I love art! And the teacher says that I'm good, considering I only have the use of my right arm. I'd like to be either an elementary school teacher or a math teacher. I love kids. I used to help out in Sunday school. I communicate with my boyfriend via e-mail, and I'm online, like, 40-45 hours a week if there's school, more than that if not.
I'm Lauren and will be a junior at Liberty High School this fall. I am 16 years old. At a young age I suffered a stroke that left me with limited use of my right hand. At age 7, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and at age 10, I had a shunt put in to drain fluids down to my stomach to stop my headaches. Right now my health is excellent. After I graduate from high school I plan to go to Bellevue Community College. From there I would like to transfer to the University of Washington, where I plan to go into the health field. When I am not worrying about grades and school, I like hanging out with a good friend. We spend hours during the summer talking on the phone. I also enjoy e-mailing friends and shopping at the mall with my best friend.
Hi. My name is Matt. I'm 16 years old, and I live in Goldendale, WA. I'm going to be a junior at Goldendale High School in the fall. My hobbies include snow mobiling, running, working, and participating in the FFA (Future Farmers of America). I show sheep throughout Washington fairs. I work for Bishop Sanitation applying class B septage in our wheat fields. My goal is to go to college and study business management and culinary cooking. My disabilities are Dyslexia and short term memory defect.
Hi, my name is Brandon. I'm an 11th grader at Kent Lake High School. My favorite school subject is English, and my career goal is to become an English teacher. I would like to go to a four-year college in the future. My disability is left side hemiplegia. I enjoy reading, playing sports, and playing on my computer.
My name is Alex, and I'm going to be a super senior next year. I love to snowboard, wakeboard, hang out with friends, and play waterpolo. I'm deaf, and therefore find that interpreters are most helpful. Having a computer allows me to talk to my friends over e-mail, which has been of great value to me. DO-IT will help me see what it's like to live in a dorm and go to college. The truth about me is that I'm just a normal teenager who loves to go out all day and not get home 'till midnight, which is my curfew. I love to have fun and dance. I love to be wild and be with my friends.
Hello, my name is Jacob. I am going into the 11th grade at Gulf Breeze High School in Florida. I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Deficiency and also have bilateral clubfeet. I was in a band for two years, but now I plan to join the drama class. I am also a member of a church youth group and have been involved in several service projects this summer. I am interested in most sciences; I will be taking chemistry this year and took zoology last year. I would like a job in the field of science. I'm also interested in learning all I can about computers. Computers and the Internet have opened opportunities to learn about new and exciting happenings around the world. They have also helped me to learn of opportunities that I can take advantage of; for instance, I learned of DO-IT from the Internet. I hope DO-IT will help me decide what my career should be and give me an idea of what college will be like. DO-IT will make it easier for me to adjust to college.
Hi, my name is Amy. I go to Snohomish High School. I am going into 11th grade. I have Cerebral Palsy, but it doesn't affect me that much. I can do things that other people can do. I am very independent. I couldn't read until I was in the fourth grade. I've had a lot of operations in my life. I had a major hip operation when I was in the sixth grade. I had to be in a body cast for two and one half months. I have a 15-year-old brother named Nick. I have four dogs, one cat, two sheep, two goats, and two cows. One of my dogs is going to be my service dog. Her name is Soffie, and she is two years old. She is a red merle Australian Shepherd. She is very smart. Sometimes I help out in the nursery at my church. I do PowerPoint at Youth Group. I love to swim. I can do all of my school work on my computer. I can also talk to different people on-line. My favorite subjects are math and English. After high school I plan to go to a university and get my teaching degree so that I can teach at an elementary school.
Hi. My name is Mike, and I will be in the 10th grade at Shorewood High School. My family name is Irish. I enjoy reading, golf, and playing card games. I'm also interested in computer programming, which I am going to learn more about at school this coming year. My favorite subjects are math and Japanese, and even though it can be hard for me to comprehend some of the simpler ideas, I do understand many of the complicated concepts. My goal is to work for Nintendo. I hope DO-IT will help me prepare for college and campus life.
My name is Sarah, and I will be a junior in high school this fall. I am in the chancel choir at church and will be in a school choir in the fall. I use an electric wheelchair. My disease (FOP) causes bone to form in muscle. I can't walk because my hips and knees are locked. My arms are also locked, almost in front of my face. I have a service dog that comes with me everywhere. For high school the school district provided me with some assistive technology. I use a palm pilot to write essays and for various other work. I have a computer in my room with a special mouse and onscreen keyboard. I use the computer to print the assignments from the palm pilot. I can also get on the Internet for research, as well as use e-mail and play games. After college, I would like to be a Spanish/English interpreter or translator.
Hello, my name is Brandi, and I am sixteen years old. I'm a junior at Tyee High School in SeaTac, Washington. I was born completely deaf in my right ear and I can hear slightly in my left ear. I think perhaps deafness is part of heredity in my family; my uncle on my dad's side is deaf, my father is hard-of-hearing, and my father's grandparents are both hard-of-hearing as well. I was a co-editor of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing newsletter at Tyee my sophomore year. I participated in Deaf Youth Drama Program for approximately three or four years, on and off. Language arts is my favorite school subject for one reason: I absolutely love to read and write. Biology is my other favorite subject, because it involves animals and I'm fond of animals, well... not all animals... I detest spiders! For my career, I've been thinking about becoming a veterinarian since I was in 4th or 5th grade! Having access to the Internet helps me keep in touch with my friends who live far away, and don't have enough time to sit down and write a real letter, you know? I hope the DO-IT program will assist me to learn how to use the Internet better, how to understand technology better, and how to use them suitably. I also hope DO-IT will help me figure out which colleges are best for me. I want to learn what accommodations can help me in college.
Hi. My name is Trisha, and I will be in 12th grade at White Swan High School. I have three brothers and one sister. I am a cheerleader for football and basketball, and I also play tennis. My disability is a learning disability. I'm interested in science, engineering, math, history, and technology. In the future I would like to be a history or science teacher. I hope DO-IT will help me understand computers better, so that I can use them when I go to college.
My name is Steven. I am going into the tenth grade at Redmond High School. I was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis when I was eight months old. Despite my disability, I enjoy golfing, swimming, wheelchair basketball, baseball, and football. I have a 21-year-old sister (Lisa), a 23-year-old brother (Kurt), and a dog (Hoagy). My favorite subjects in school are math and science. I would like to be an architect because I enjoy drawing and using my imagination. The DO-IT Scholars program is a good opportunity for me to get familiar with college surroundings and be better prepared for college.
My name is Matt, and I am a senior at Mountain View High School. I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and I use a wheelchair. In my free time I like to play computer games, watch movies, surf the net, and make 3D art on the computer. I am a huge fan of Star Trek. I also collect diecast 1:18 scale cars with my uncle. I currently have 28 cars in my collection; my favorite car being a 1948 Woody Wagon. My favorite subject at school is art. I would like a career in the computer graphics field.
My name is Alicia, and I just finished my sophomore year. I enjoy long-distance running in track. In the summer, I swim on the Toppenish Tarpons Swim Team. I have a SLD (Single Learning Disability) in math. I have found science to be interesting. I like computers. My favorite subject in school is English. I think I would like to go into philosophy, and I am considering a major in literature. I might want to be a counselor. Having a computer and Internet access is really great. I hope the DO-IT program will help me transition to college. I will learn what is expected and how things will work when I get to college myself. I hope by the time the program is over I will have enough knowledge to face the real world. I hope to make new friends and have a good time!