Sean and Isiah part 5: Airport

The guys successfully navigated the airport and got themselves to World Services for the Blind campus. Here’s their journal with their reflections of the experience:

From Sean

The airport portion of the trip went very well. I was able to get a prospect agent, and they were able to help me the whole way through security and to the gate.

I want to share something that my teacher pointed out to us. When you have a question, or you want something to happen, for example, when I arrive at the gate, I want Robbin to call out when she sees me, I could text her and say I’m here or even say exactly where I am. But those would be statements, I need to remember to ask questions. I learned this when Isiah gave a statement about where he was in the airport. I learned to follow that statement up with a question. For example, Isiah texted where he was sitting at the gate. That statement didn’t indicate that he wanted us to meet him. I learned that you have to follow that up with a question like “will you guys come meet me?” Both the statement and the question communicate what you want.

Honestly, getting here (to WSB) was so much easier than I thought. I am relieved that things went smoothly. I believe things went smoothly because I had all the information that I needed, the details and was prepared. I was in charge of myself and communicated well with airport personnel. I feel great because I now have learned that I could do this again if I needed or wanted to. I coordinated the guide service in both SLC and Little Rock. I had the contact information and coordinated my pick up. It all worked out because I was running the show. Another takeaway as I reflect on the success of this situation is my reminder about complacency. I am reminded that I need to step up regularly in my life and show up for myself. I know what it feels like to be complacent and just go with the flow. I get anxious when I get complacent. I don’t have a clear picture of the end goal when I just go with the flow. I need to prepare because it gives me a sense of calmness. I knew that I had all the information in my pocket. I didn’t have to scramble to get any information. This reduced my anxiety a ton! All my information was easily accessible.

From Isiah

One thing that I did pretty well was using Prospect service at the airport. This is my first time going through the airport independently. With Prospect, they guided me and I got to the gate without issues. I had to be prepared by having my boarding pass and gate information. It was also helpful that I told them how to guide me instead of using a wheelchair. I was successful with getting through TSA. I was prepared for TSA by knowing the color of my backpack and having a plan for how I would get my stuff. I made sure I put my stuff together in the same bin. I told them to bring me my bin after I went through the security screening. Giving the directions helped TSA agents know what to do and how to help me.
When we got to the Little Rock airport, I called the driver who was supposed to take us to WSB. I made sure that I had the information of the driver such as the type of vehicle and the pick up spot. This worked out well because I was able to tell the agent that was guiding me the information so I could meet the driver. This is a good learning experience for me. This experience helped me to know what to expect about returning to WSB in the future. At first I was nervous about flying but by the time I got to WSB I felt proud and happy with myself.

Video 1: Sean at the Prospect Counter