Editor's Note: For the semester, The Mirror will chronicle Brianne Menges' life as she moves from college life into the real world. Lovinger graduated from Drury in May 2009 with a degree in Politics & Government. She is currently living in the Chicago area.
After two weeks of traveling in Spain and Italy, I am finally settled back into my campus in London, which turned into a lovely mess of red and orange leaves while I was away. It is hard to believe that I spent October, a month that I usually associate with the flu, wearing layers of sunscreen and a sundresses rather than my annual green Power Rangers costume.
Never before had I given much thought to the sheer difficulty and brute arm strength it takes to survive a day in a manual wheelchair. It took only 30 seconds after I rolled out of Ed Derr's office for disability services at the FSC in my new mode of transportation to realize the complicated and grueling process of navigating a wheelchair.