Whitman Articles

Accessibility prioritized on Whitman campus
Published April 14, 2011



ARC provides assistive technology for student use
Published April 21, 2011

Whitewater frees student from “disabled” label
Published October 20, 2010

Reason to be a Geology Major #2

We get to do constant experiments, not even in lab. It's fantastic. Especially in the case of volcanoes, which as an explosive feature, means we get to explode things. 

A fish bowl full of flour on a hot plate. In most instances, I would sure nothing good could come of this, but we have an awesome teacher who comes up with the BEST hands on activities! She snuck a balloon into the bowl before class and no one knew it was there. When the hot plate heated up the balloon, it increased the pressure, causing the balloon to expand and pop, simulating an awesome Caldera Volcano. Seriously, try this at home. Part of me was hoping the flour would just explode all over; it was a Friday afternoon at the end of a long week. But the good news is we were rewarded with candy.

Doing experiments like this make me so excited and happy I chose Whitman. If I were at a larger school, I am highly doubtful I would be doing all of these crazy experiments and enjoying my classes so much.

Challenged Athletes Foundation

This past week I received my letter awarding me a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) to purchase a kayak! I made the mistake of checking my phone in yoga class and found out, and I was no longer peaceful; I couldn't believe it. I'm really excited and grateful to them for giving me what I need to get myself taken care of. It's crazy to think about how many people they must have made happy this week, because they distributed more than $1.4 million dollars to 980 individual people. WOW!

The wait was long, and for a long time I'd just put it out of my mind. The application had been submitted long ago, and the wait period felt like an eternity, which I'll admit CAF must have needed to read through thousands of grant applications.

To rejoice in my grant, I baked my kayak instructor who wrote me a letter of recommendation a cake. I'll let you guys judge for yourselves.

All in all, I'll be getting a whitewater kayak of an undetermined color, a paddle, and hopefully a helmet and spray skirt. And I am so thankful to the Challenged Athletes Foundation for providing me with yet another chance to get out of my chair.

The Second Date Rule

As far as adults go, I've got a second date rule. We've got to be on our second date or meeting, at least, before you ask me the question. Unless there's a reason, it's typically just personal curiosity that drive people to ask. Why are you in a wheelchair? It's not that I mind sharing, not at all. But there's something to be said when a person blurts it out when they still can't even remember your name.

Never ask someone why they're in a chair before you get their name. This may seem obvious, but seriously, it just happened last week folks. I'm sitting at the gym and a teacher who I didn't know just got started talking and before we exchanged names, she popped the question. Poor form.

When first making introductions it's hard enough to take the risk sometimes and step out of your comfort zone. I definitely do not want people to notice my wheelchair before me, because it's definitely my accessory and not the other way around, trust me, I push it all day. I wish there was more an acknowledgement of personal selves before we necessarily had to acknowledge the physical. The out of order introduction of disability then name, allows my disability to come first in my life, and that is never something I want to happen.

Alaska Challenge!

For a majority of the month of June I will be spending my time in Alaska, climbing to the summit of 9,545 foot tall Mount Dickey. The trek, which includes a handful of adaptive athletes, along with professional guides and adaptive professionals will be made over approximately 12 days, using sit down cross country skis and climbing equipment. Call me crazy, but doesn't this seem like my, the adventurous, insane, and sometimes slightly moronic person's dream? Well, yes folks, this is  the dream now. As an athlete, and a budding geologist, I want nothing more than to be pushed to my limits in the jaw-dropping landscape of Alaska. 


Telluride Adaptive Sports Program is leading this trip, with Mountain Trips doing the guiding services. This isn't their first trek to the Alaskan tundra, and they have future plans to help adaptive athletes to summit Denali. In a few years, I'm pretty sure I'll want to be a part of that trip too. This is the press release with even more juicy details about this years trek: Press Release

I'm being given scholarship through the Heidi Kloos Memorial Fund at Mountain Trip and TASP. Heidi Kloos was an avid mountaineer. She climbed Denali 10 times, and climbed all over the world. In March 2010, an avalanche took her life. This memorial fund has been created  in her honor to get women involved in the Alaska Adventure, and this year I'm in!


There are quite a few ways to donate if you'd like to help me out in getting to Alaska and to the summit of Mount Dickey. 


You can write a check to Telluride Adaptive Sports Program and you'd just need to write on it for Heidi Kloos Fund for MiKayla Briere and mail it to:
Telluride Adaptive Sports Program
Attn: Tim McGough
P.O. Box 2254
Telluride, Colorado 81435


You can donate on paypal at this website:
Paypal Donations for TASP Heidi Kloos Fund!
and then briefly send an email to tasp@tellurideadaptivesports.org with your name and that your donation is for the Heidi Kloos Fund for MiKayla Briere


And Lastly, you can call (970) 728- 5010 and make a donation over the phone, and again if you wish for your donation to help fund my trip, please state that you wish for it to be used for me.