User:Urness.sam

Sam Urness

My name is Sam Urness. I am a 23-year old male living in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. I recently graduated from Transition Plus, in St. Louis Park, MN. I enjoy working on the computer, going to work at Shalom Home, and looking stuff up here, on Wikipedia. I also enjoy watching DVDs and listening to music on my iPod nano. I believe that ex-President George W. Bush should have either been impeached or never run for a second term. He is the worst American President in the history of this country! I believe that we should have a competent president who doesn't engage in a vendetta for their father just for the fun of it! That's immoral and wrong. George W. Bush should never have been elected President of the United States! Al Gore should have become President! He would have taken a stronger lead on climate change and global warming, I'm sure of it! I sure hope that Pres. Obama takes a stronger lead on climate change than President George W. Bush ever did.

My favorite movies are: Tin Man (miniseries) & The Shawshank Redemption (movie). My favorite TV shows are: Dexter (TV series), Modern Marvels, and NCIS (TV series). My favorite book right now is: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Other Stuff: I have a brother named Zach, who lives in Grant's Pass, Oregon. I also have a second cousin named Lydia, who lives in Salem, Oregon. I was able to visit both Zach and Lydia last summer! I really enjoyed it, because it was fun to see them again!

I have a Border Terrier named Monty, who doesn't get along with the two neighbor dogs, Tilly and Otto. My grandma used to have a West Highland White Terrier, but it died, she didn't want to get another one, and can't have a dog anymore at her current residence anyway. Dogs can visit for short periods of time, but they can't stay there overnight. My grandma recently passed away. She will really, really be missed.

Update

Otto went to live with Brian, the Drivers' son, out in Colorado. He comes to visit only about once a year or less.

2008 Update

Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning the 2008 Presidential race, and becoming the President of the United States!

My Life With cerebral palsy

I have lived with cerebral palsy for my whole life. It never really bothered me until junior high. When puberty hit, I would break down a lot over the smallest things. For a time, I wanted to commit suicide, but thankfully never did. I had a teacher named Mrs. Mignone, who was very hard to impress. I was terrible at math, and couldn't do it in my head. That's what she made me do. There were no calculators allowed in her math class! I tried to sneak one into class once, but as soon as I took it out, she swiped it from me, giving me a lecture on how most people won't have a calculator when they go shopping, and how I needed to learn to do math in my head. I couldn't do that very well, and I soon found out why. In my sophomore year, I was diagnosed with a non-verbal learning disability (NVLD). I didn't accept that I had an NVLD until about a half a year later, but now I have learned to accept that I have it. I learned to deal with Mrs. Mignone, and eventually grew to respect her. She told me that she was going to cry when I graduated from St. Louis Park High School. I never found out if she ever did or not. I recently (2008) heard that she no longer works there, and felt bad that I hadn't gone back to visit sooner. I found out that she works at Peter Hobart Elementary School.

Transition Plus

When I graduated, I was accidentally given my high school diploma. I was told that I would be allowed to keep it for the summer, but would need to return it on my first day of Transition Plus. I forgot to bring it, and kept delaying its return. My parents later found out why. I was proud of it, and wanted to keep it, but knew that I couldn't do that. I felt that I was unable (or maybe even unwilling) to return it myself. I asked my parents to return it for me. They agreed, and hid it from me, knowing that I might try to get it back from them. I only tried this once, but gave up, knowing I couldn't continue to Transition Plus without its return. When my parents and I came in for an IEP review, they gave it to my new IEP manager. My first year, I was given a job coach that I would have for my whole time there. I was assigned to work at Eisenhower Community Center. I delivered mail and shredded confidential material. I really enjoyed that job, but I bought too much at Wetlands Cafe, which was in the building. My parents soon became concerned, and contacted my job coach, and she asked me to stop buying so much unhealthy food. I eventually did stop, and everything was good for the rest of the year. When I went to the Transition Plus graduation ceremony, I noticed that the leather covers that I had when I left the St. Louis Park High School weren't there, and Lynn told me that they had been returned to the respective high schools. I was disappointed, and wondered if I could have it when I graduated. She told me to ask St. Louis Park High School about that. I'm very glad that I don't go to school there anymore, but also miss the building itself. I heard that Mr. Laney, a principal that I liked, got switched to another school. I sure hope he likes it there. Every summer since the year of my fourteenth birthday, I have been going to a Summer Work Program through Tree Trust until the summer of 2008. This summer, I started my new day program, Community Involvement Programs. (See below.) I am greatful that I started CIP, because that's where I met my girfriend, Daisy.

Transition Plus, second year

When I came back from the summer, I was assigned to work at Sunrise Senior Living. I went there, liked it for a while, but eventually didn't like it. It was too repetitive, and I wasn't allowed to talk to the residents. I didn't deliver mail like I did at Shalom Home. I didn't deliver mail at Sunrise, but just set and cleared the dining room table five days a week. I didn't enjoy it at all, because a lot of times, there would be nasty food or liquid medicine spilled on the tables or chairs. That was disgusting, having to clean that up! After a semester there, I switched to working at Shalom Home, where I delivered mail, shredded, and talked to the residents whose mail I delivered. I couldn't bring any food, though, because it's not Kosher. I didn't mind that at all, though, because I got a meal ticket every day other than the two days I was there during Passover. Then, I got free food, but no French fries those days. A co-worker of mine would have been really disappointed had he come, but he wasn't there those two days. He came back after a month, and was glad that he was gone during Passover. I told him that he would have been really disappointed because there were no fries. He came back several weeks later, which I'm really happy about. He was gone for a month, and I really missed him!

Transition Plus, third and final year

2009 was my last year at T+. I went to school five days a week, but only went to Transition Plus, which recently moved to St. Louis Park, MN, near the St. Louis Park High School, my Alma mater. I went to Hennepin Technical College for a high school course in the culinary arts wing. A friend of mine had another class in that same wing, which was cool. I really like her. She left the high school a year after me, I think. My job coach, Lisa, wanted me to research three jobs before second semester as ideas to find a job for then.

I got a job at Hopkins High School's "coffee depot too," where I put dinner rolls and other such food on trays to be cooked. I enjoyed doing it, since I thought that I would get paid for doing it. I never was. The only problem was that I only went there once a week, so thought that I would get a low-paying check. I graduated from Transition Plus and am at Community Involvement Programs (CIP), a day program, right now.

My experiences at CIP

A week after I graduated, I started my day program, called CIP. So far, I've just been looking at and looking for both paid and volunteer jobs that suit my abilities. I haven't found a job through CIP yet, but I have found a few volunteer positions, though, still searching, but learning a lot about finding jobs, and how hard it is in the current economy! Daa! It's irritating, really, because I started CIP last summer, and STILL haven't found a job yet! I have found several volunteer positions, however. I also met my girlfriend, Daisy, who I've been with for about a year and a half. I love her very much!