What’s happening at NFB Youth Slam? What’s on the minds of the mentors and students here at the University of Maryland? What do people really think about blindness and what is possible? Follow our slam news crew as they hit the streets to find out.
In this podcast, the Slam News Team asks blind students what they weren’t allowed to do in science classes because of their blindness.
What’s happening at NFB Youth Slam? What’s on the minds of the mentors and students here at the University of Maryland? What do people really think about blindness and what is possible? Follow our slam news crew as they hit the streets to find out.
In this podcast, the Slam News Team asks blind students how being at Youth Slam has changed them.
Hey fellow Youth slammers, its me, The Prince of Maryland. I had the opportunity to interview Tarik Suber, (my room mate everyone), a young man from Atlanta, Georgia.
He awoke Sunday, July 26, wondering, “Oh dear, what am I getting myself into!” Tarik is a first time Slammer (I’m proud of him). Tarik got here by plane; he arrived to BWI airport in Maryland, waited for the bus for the Youth slam, and now is having fun. So thanks Tarikand everyone. Stay tuned for my next piece.
1. I have a passion for reading.
2. I love sushi.
3. I have a weakness for sweets, especially chocolate.
4. I’m not very good at Algebra.
5. I love to write.
6. I don’t like spicy things.
7. I love to use computers.
8. I’m in the color guard.
9. I love pop, hip hop, rap, and Christian music.
10. I really like Starbucks, especially the frappaccinos.
11. I was born in Edison, New Jersey.
12. I’m the only girl in the family and the middle child.
13. I thought that my older brother didn’t want me (he tried to give me a house cleaning project to drink).
14. I have an immense fear of flying.
15. I hate guns and the darkness.
16. I still don’t have my license.
17. I went through a difficult time in middle school.
18. I cried a lot when I was younger.
19. I also like going to Coldstone.
20. I can be a pack rat and keep things clean one day, messy the next.
21. I tend to spend a lot of time on the Internet.
22. I still collect teddy bears and stuffed bunnies.
23. My favorite color is pink.
24. I would love to ice skate.
25. I also have Asperger’s Syndrome.
Q: What is your name?
A: Olaedo Ajoku
Q: Where were you born?
A: Edison New Jersey
Q: How did you find out about Youth Slam?
A: My mom and vision teacher told me about the program this year.
Q: Were you excited when you were told the details of Youth Slam?
A: A little. I was a bit upset about it being the same week as my band camp. I also do not like flying. My feelings changed however when I heard more about the program.
Q: Which state do you live in now?
A: Georgia
Q: How was your flight to Baltimore? Any layovers?
A: It was an hour and twenty five minutes long. I had a direct flight.
Q: How have you liked Youth slam so far?
A: It’s cool! I really enjoy meeting new people here.
Q: Which dorm are you staying at?
A: prince george, hufflepuff
Q: Is there anything you’re looking forward to in particular?
A: I’m looking forward to more activities including riding the mechanical bull, going to the Jernigan institute and . . . And Rec x night!
Tomy Geczy was originally born in Hungary, a
country in Asia, but lives and comes from Ohio. He is fully blind and it is his first year at the NFB Youth Slam. Tomy learned about it from his mother, who e-mailed him the information. He stays at the Hartford dorm (Slytherin) and is also part of News
Slam. The event that Tomy is mostly looking forward
to is Extreme Rec night.
Denzel’s family drove him to Baltimore Washington International (BWI) airport from Baltimore where they live.
The reason Denzel came to NFB Youth Slam is that he wanted to be with more blind and visually impaired people and also to represent his home state of Maryland.
1. I love to read.
2. I like Brussels sprouts.
3. I try to be optimistic.
4. When the seventh Harry Potter book came out, I read the whole book in a week and got a blister on my finger.
5. Sports put me to sleep.
6. I have two younger siblings.
7. My parents got divorced when I was seven.
8. I try not to judge people by my first impressions of them.
9. I would like to travel to every continent in my lifetime.
10. I love the color green because even though I can’t see it I associate it with the smell of evergreen trees.
11. My favorite subject in school is English.
12. I try to associate colors with smells or things that I can smell, hear, or touch.
13. The subject I hate is math.
14. One of the things I like about traveling is meeting new people.
15. I have a bad sense of direction.
16. When I am in unfamiliar areas I get lost often and ask for directions.
17. My favorite holiday is Christmas.
18. In middle school I participated in Marching Band.
19. I began using a cane when I was three.
20. My middle name, Britt, is my mom’s maiden name.
21. I want to teach English but I can’t spell.
22. I don’t like tomatoes, but I love ketchup.
23. I love classical music.
24. I want to do something that really matters with my life.
25. I used to be in Chorus before I transferred schools.
1. I have glaucoma.
2. I was born in Abu Dhabi.
3. I am black and Egyptian.
4. I love swimming and am training to be a life guard.
5. I wrestle folk style and Greco-Roman.
6. I love music and can play the drumset and bass.
7. I did a backflip on my bike and surprisingly didn’t break my neck.
8. I lived in DC.
9. I now live in Atlanta – GET ME OUTTA THERE!
10. I love horror movies.
11. I wanna get a boat license.
12. I tried to backflip an ATV – it didn’t go so well.
13. I have the best shot in the family.
14. I am about to get a job at Dixieland.
15. I am very stable.
16. I work on cars all the time.
17. I worked on my friend’s car for drag racing and we came in first place.
18. I know how to ride a motorcycle.
19. I once rode a banana boat.
20. I am the best Gears of War player ever.
21. I hate musicals.
22. I have horrible allergies.
23. I can play the saxophone.
24. I love slamball.
25. I enjoy deep sea fishing even though I nearly lost my finger.
1: I was born in Acapulco, a famous tourist attraction in Mexico.
2: I don’t think I have a least favorite food but I’m very picky, and there are millions of things I do not like.
3: I’m not much of a sweets eater, preferring the salty food groups in my time of snack food needs.
4: I don’t think I have a favorite song or type of music, as I listen to anything that has a catching melody and rhythm.
5: I tend to gravitate toward people that are loud and outgoing, believing myself to be more of a mixture between introvert and extrovert.
6: small things make me cry, while earth-shattering problems make me apathetic.
7: I don’t often show negative emotions.
8: I’m very self-conscious.
9: My very best friend in the world was who inspired me to want to pursue a career in the Cultural Anthropology field.
10: My greatest dream is also my greatest obstacle to overcome: to travel.
11: I do not fear death.
12: I hate my smile.
13: One of the reasons I like having long hair is that I can hide behind it whenever my self-consciousness overwhelms me.
14: I have no middle name; a fact that made me angry when I was younger, as I had no trade when kids would secretly tell them to each other.
15: The only thing I hate about being blind is that I can’t walk with my cane and eat a box of fries at the same time.
16: When I was a trumpet player in the marching band, I hated it; not because I was blind, but because, as an actual individual, I wasn’t very good at it.
17: My one pet peeve is racial prejudice, as in, making fun of someone because they “sound” a certain race.
18: My favorite subjects in high school were always English-Lit and French.
19: Writing is like a substitute for comfort eating.
20: I never tell one single person all of my secrets.
21: I have often been described as flowing and charismatic, but people’s first impressions of me are usually negative.
22: My favorite color changes every year.
23: It takes a lot to make me truly mad.
24: I don’t think I could ever be a mother because I’m not firm or strict enough.
25: I often see and admit my problems but don’t ever really know where to go from there to fix them.
