College Life

Hey readers! Long time no post. I'm officially a college gal! I have a break in between classes so I thought I would post what I've been up to and stuff like that. Tulane has exceeded all expectations so far and I am literally loving every second of it.

Move in day was organized chaos. The dorm opened at 8 and we were here by 8:30. We pulled in, unloaded everything and dad went back to get everything we didn't bring which was basically our entire Bed Bath haul (the Bed Bath down here is insane, two floors and an escalator for your cart!). Once the car was unloaded, upperclassmen helped bring up everything while my mom and I walked up not one, not two, not 5 but 10 flights of stairs. The first time I did it I was like that was easy, the fifth time I was completely eating my words. At least I know that if I can't make it to the gym I can still get some exercise in :). Anyhoo, after a day of unpacking, organizing, stressing, and a little bit of tears, I finally finished moving in. I'll post pics below.

Classes started on Monday and lucky me, I have all 8 AMs. So everyday I'm up by 7 at the latest. All my classes are interesting and I'm excited to see what the semester brings :).

So how does a dwarf navigate around this big campus? A lot of tylenol, a lot of endurance, a little bit of fear and comfy shoes. I've been on time so far and haven't gotten lost yet, but my legs are paying the price. I've woken up every day feeling sore so children's, yes CHILDREN'S tylenol has been my best friend. I take children's tylenol because I know the dosage and there's no uncertainty with taking too many.

At night I've gone out, doing the typical college thing, and my body gets tired long before my brain does so it's all about pacing myself but most importantly...having a good time.

That's all for now I have to get ready for class, but I'll update again. Maybe with a video? Hmmm....

Farewell!
-Jillian Ilana

What do you want to know?

Bonjour y'all! So I'm all moved in at Tulane and I'm loving every minute so far. Mom hasn't cried...yet... and nothing was broken :). I'll insert pics of my room and how I adapted things around here in my next post but what I want to know is... What do YOU want to know? I'm writing this blog for you, the readers. So comment on this post or tweet me or comment on facebook what questions you would like answered and I'll post my answers in the next post.

Auf Wiedersen!
-Jillian Ilana

Vlog- New Orleans bound

Hey blog readers! So hopefully this worked, this is my first time making a Vlog so all fingers crossed! Enjoy and until next post!
-Jillian Ilana

Last few moments in Jersey

The time has come, tomorrow at 3 am I'll be waking up and heading towards the airport with a one way ticket to New Orleans. Words cannot begin to explain how excited I am to start this new chapter in my life. New school, new friends, new opportunities, I can't wait! Today was a whirlwind of last minute shopping and goodbyes and endless phone calls from my mom telling me to come home. By the way I want to give a shout out to the best mother in the world, Audrey! She was up at 6 A.M. (which if you know my mother, waking up at 6 is totally normal for her) and she packed and repacked all day. I love her in more words than I can write in this post. 

My clothes are all packed, everything is ready at Bed Bath and Beyond for me to pick up and all that's left to do is get on that plane. Since we have to leave the house at 4 to make it to the airport by 5 I made my last Wawa stop until Thanksgiving. If you don't know what Wawa is, it is basically 711 but a gazillion times better. 

I asked my mom if she ever thought this day would come and she said she knew it would, but there was a time when she didn't think I would be going so far away. She didn't think I could, being a little person, but she's so proud of me that I'm proving her wrong (one of the only times, by the way, that she said I am allowed to). And honest to goodness, I shared her doubts. I didn't think I would be able to move 1,000 miles away, with no little people connections in the area and have a "normal" college experience. But I'm ready. BRING IT ON! 

Tomorrow I'll update as I make my way to New Orleans, maybe I'll vlog...who knows? 

Good night, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite! 

-Jillian Ilana 

Fitting in a world that is too tall, too big, too...EVERYTHING

This world is not made for little people, it's just not. So there are certain things I have to do in order to make everyone's world MY world.

These here are my pedal extenders, one gas and one brake. They are screwed onto my car's actual pedals. I drive an elantra and even with the seat moved all the way up, the extenders are necessary. These pedal extenders can be unscrewed and put onto a different car as long as they fit. What I didn't take a picture of is my seat; I sit on a small pillow and behind me is a larger, fatter pillow that supports my back. 

This is my shower head. The lower head is the one I use and can be moved to different heights as needed. The reason for a lower shower head is so that I can take it off to have more control of where the water is going. Before I got the new shower head, it was a lot harder to reach certain areas and make sure that they were clean. It also comes in handy when cleaning the shower too. 

A sideways sink? What?! Yupp in my downstairs bathroom and in my upstairs bathroom my sinks are sideways. This was done a long time ago and it was so I could reach the faucet even when on a stool. So don't say I didn't warn you if you ever come over and use my bathroom. 

THE STOOL! Without stools in my house I would most likely be in the hospital 24/7 from falling off shelves trying to reach something. The stepstools in my house help me reach literally EVERYTHING. From food in my refrigerator to my favorite pair of jeans to the kitchen sink to do the dishes. And no I don't have three stools in my house, I probably have like 5. There should be a warning label on my stools telling you that they will sneak up on you out of nowhere and cause you to stub your toes or trip over them. 

Yes those are two wooden sticks and yes they are hooked into my light switches. This lovely adaptation is only in my room, for reasons I don't understand cause there are light switches in my house I still can't reach on flat feet and these were put in when I was five. These handy dandy sticks allow me to turn my lights and fan on and off. Now that I have exceed 3 feet tall I don't necessarily need them but I use them still every time. 

So yeah, those are a few things I have to adapt this world to make it one that I can fit in. It may look strange but to me it's just a part of being a dwarf in an average sized world. 

Sayonara!

-Jillian Ilana 

LPA?

I always talk to my friends about LPA and they give me this look like, "We're not little, what does LPA mean?" LPA stands for Little People of America. It's an organization for little people or dwarfs across America. LPA expands across the country and welcomes international members into its community as well. LPA is divided into districts which is made up of several states. I'm from district 2 which is New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Twice a year, districts will host a regional convention where the district comes together for a weekend to learn, make new friends, and have a good time. Then once a year there is a national convention where all of LPA is invited for a week in a city whether it's DC, Orlando, New York, Detroit, etc. to meet new people, talk to doctors, etc, but there is more. LPA gives us Little People to be the "norm" for a weekend or a week. It is indescribable, the feeling of walking into a hotel where no one is staring at you and you just blend into the crowd. 

Without LPA I wouldn't have this network of little people who know what I'm going through everyday and can offer advice and assistance on how to adapt this big world so I can fit in it. 

In my past 18 years friends have changed, my surroundings have changed, I have certainly changed, but LPA has always been a constant in my life and always will be. 

A bientot!

-Jillian Ilana 

The Dwarf in the Dirt

The dwarf in the dirt? What could that possibly mean? The dwarf in the dirt is the title of an episode of Bones. For those of you who don't know, Bones is a crime scene drama. I stumbled upon this episode yesterday and I couldn't finish it. Long story short, the word midget was used several times and "midget wrestling" was featured. Needless to say I changed the channel as fast as I could.
Being a little person in an average sized world I'm used to the stares, the pointing fingers and the questions. I'll always stand out and I'm okay with it. BUT...one thing I cannot tolerate and I don't think I'll ever be used to is hearing the word midget. Midget is offensive to dwarves and is one of those words that simply shouldn't be said. The proper term for someone like me is dwarf or simply a little person.
I understand things are said for entertainment, but there is a line and it should not be crossed.
So what happens if you come across a little person in the mall or on the street or at school and you don't know what to do or what to say? Just ask. I would rather someone ask me a gazillion and one questions about being a dwarf than to make judgments before getting to know me.

The moral of this post: Don't say midget. Just don't it's wrong.

Au revoir!
-Jillian Ilana