It is a pleasure for us to introduce freshman student, Danielle. She is twenty years old and comes to us from Rockland County, NY. Danielle is excited about the prospect of learning both life and job skills over the next two years. So far, it has been a great experience for Danielle because, “everybody is being very friendly and helpful.” She loves to dance, hang out with friends, go to movies and to be involved with events going on in Albany and on-campus.

Danielle has already made quite the impact at the College Experience. Recently, she made the Golden Knights Dance Club team, a club whose tryouts were open to all members of the College of Saint Rose Community. Danielle has danced since the age of 8, performing multiple types of dance. In her freshman year, she took on 7 dance classes and the other years she did 4 classes. When she was 14, she was an assistant teacher at for 4-6 year olds and at 19, she returned to instructing classes for older students, ages 7 & 8. Her strongest categories are ballet and contemporary dance.

Danielle wants to be successful during her time at the College Experience and meet her goals that she has set. She aspires to earn good grades, participate in the community and make friends in the College Experience and on campus. She has already signed up for Best Buddies on campus that allows her to be paired with a mainstream student at the College of Saint Rose.

Danielle said that she feels that “you basically have to do what is best for you” and look past any difficulties. She does not use the term “disability” but rather learning challenges and differences. Danielle also does not like being labeled because it can be offensive. She adds, “I feel that my family is very supportive and feel that I can relate to people here at the College Experience compared to how things were at my previous college.”

Danielle describes herself as “very outgoing, friendly, helpful, and wants to be involved in the community by attending events.” This becomes apparent when she talks about her interest in joining the College Experience Walking Club, a club that is led by a staff member but run by the students who determine how far and where to walk around the Albany area. Also that she has been to two volleyball games, the jazz festival, and to the State Capital. Her favorite classes are Finance and Community Involvement. She has a younger brother and her parents are super proud of how she has done in the program. The College Experience and the College of Saint Rose look forward to seeing more good things come from Danielle!