Six Hours Seated: Students in RPL course stay in wheelchairs for class
Allie Kooistra traded legs for wheels one day last week.
For six consecutive hours Sept. 22, the Fremont junior was required to use a wheelchair for transportation. She is just one of several students required to do so this semester in RPL 210: Recreation for Diverse Populations.
The assignment was not quite what she expected.
“It was a good experience,” Kooistra said. “It was definitely something that opened my eyes to being in a wheelchair and how different life is walking.”
Battle Creek sophomore Elise Trupiano did the assignment alongside Kooistra.
“I did not think it was going to be as hard as it was,” she said. “It takes longer than you expect to move around.”
Mary Lou Schilling, assistant professor of recreation parks and leisure services, said the assignment is a great learning experience for students.
Students are not allowed to use their legs at all during the six hours, Schilling said.
Students are required to spend one of those hours doing a recreational activity. Trupiano and Kooistra played Frisbee.
“It was stressful, just a lot more work,” Kooistra said. “After a few days, my shoulders are still sore.”
Schilling said students feel uncoordinated while taking part in a recreational activity.
“They don’t have enough strength, and they can’t move as quickly,” she said. “I like to see the recreational activity challenge the disability they’re portraying.”
On-campus discoveries
Both Trupiano and Kooistra made a discovery about Central Michigan University’s campus — it isn’t entirely handicap-accessible or friendly.
“The north campus sidewalks are really bad,” Trupiano said.
Trupiano and Kooistra discovered Bovee University Center also doesn’t have a main entrance that is easily traversable.
If someone in a wheelchair needs to enter the UC, they have to go all the way around the back and go up the ramps, Kooistra said.
“I feel like CMU should try to improve some of the campus,” Trupiano said. “After a while, it’s rough getting up the ramps.”
Trupiano and Kooistra also take PSY 250: Abnormal Psychology together in Moore 105, a lecture hall.
Since both students were in a wheelchair, it was more difficult to find a place to sit.
“We were on the stage,” Kooistra said, laughing. “It was a little awkward.”
On top of not being able to sit anywhere in class, the pair usually had to wait for classrooms to clear out before they could leave. They discovered when moving around in a wheelchair, no other activities can be accomplished; such as talking on a phone, texting or quickly going over notes for their next classes.
“I have a great respect for people that do it daily,” Kooistra said. “I find myself walking around and noticing things that aren’t accessible, and you definitely notice a lot more once you spend a day in a wheelchair.”
Trupiano realized a difference in character from students on campus. When Trupiano needed help opening a door, she said someone was usually there to hold it open or offer to do so.
“There was a lot more pleasant conversation that day,” she said. “People were more than willing to help out.”
