Feeling lost on campus is not a phenomenon limited to freshmen. Valerie Hyatt, senior in secondary English education, often feels the same way.

But luckily, she has Emma.

Hyatt suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease of the retina.

Emma, Hyatt’s guide dog since May, helps her with mobility.

“I used to run into store displays and curbs,” Hyatt said.”Emma distinguishes the obstacles in my path and moves me around them.”

Hyatt said she prefers a guide dog to a walking cane because she doesn’t have to think so hard about movement and likes the companionship.

“If I walk without a dog, it’s weird to me because I have had a dog for so long,” she said.

Although Hyatt still has some vision, she cannot drive a car or read print for a long period of time. Because she an still read for short periods she does not practice Braille, she said.

She has a pair of eyeglasses that magnify print to make reading easier, but even that does not help her much, Hyatt said.

“The degree of how I see varies from day to day,” she said. “Some days are better than others.”

Hyatt is back in school for the third time. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maine.

She said it is her goal to teach students in juvenile detention centers or students in mental hospitals after she graduates from Iowa State.

Hyatt said when she first decided to attend Iowa State she contacted Todd Herriott, program coordinator for the dean of student’s office and coordinator for disability resources.

“We work with disabled students who are registered with us in a number of ways,” Herriott said. “For a student who has low sight or is blind, I try to talk to them before they start school here. I try to make sure all accommodations that can be made are made.”

Herriott said other accommodations his office makes include scheduling classes for a person in a wheelchair or making sure they have access to an elevator.

“I also help coordinate books on tape if it is possible,” Herriott said, although he pointed out books on subjects such as calculus can not be easily taught by ear.

“We don’t ensure success for every student, but [we] try to make it so a student can choose to succeed or fail,” Herriott said.

“Reaching my goals are really important to me and my family,” Hyatt said. “My parents are thrilled that I’m going to Iowa State because it is one less dog in the house.”

Hyatt’s parents have three dogs including her old guide dog, Cedar, a yellow female lab, who has been with Hyatt since 1996. In her apartment at Frederiksen Court, Hyatt keeps a photo of Cedar beside her bed.

“Cedar came to me when she was two, just like Emma, and she worked well with me,” Hyatt said.

Working with Emma has been different than working with Cedar; Emma has two different personalities, Hyatt said.

“When she’s at home with me she acts like a normal two—year—old dog,” she said. “When her harness is on, she’s a different dog. She knows she has to help me get around and it’s her main job.”

Hyatt has always had female guide dogs, she said.

“It is more of a personal preference,” Hyatt said. “Females don’t tend to pull as hard as male dogs do when they’re on the harness.”

The main rule of having a guide dog is not letting others pet the dog, Hyatt said.

“The first day was fine,” she said. “People would ask me about Emma and I would tell them how old she was but no one tried to pet her.”

Herriott likes to visit with Emma when he can gets a chance.

“We keep a big barrel of Milk Bones behind our secretary’s desk,” he said. “I try to respect Valerie’s rules when she brings Emma here but once she lets her off of her harness I pet her. I’m a big dog fan and I think Emma is a great dog and has adapted well to her new environment.”

Although Herriott works to help Hyatt and others fit in with their new surroundings, Emma tends to stand out.

“Sometimes Emma will grunt in class, which can be mistaken for growling, and tries to get up,” Hyatt said. “Other than that, she is a pretty quiet dog.”

In class, Hyatt usually sits up front with Emma at her side.

Kendra Essman, junior in linguistics, is in English 220 with Hyatt and said Emma has never been a distraction in class.

“I think it’s good to have a guide dog around because it increases awareness,” she said.

Hyatt lives at Frederiksen Court with her roommate Tracy Appelbaum, sophomore in veterinary medicine.

“I first found out about having Val as a roommate over the summer when she e-mailed me,” Appelbaum said.

Applebaum said she was excited to have Hyatt as a roommate because pets are not usually allowed in Frederiksen Court. Appelbaum said she plays with Emma and often takes her on walks.

“Emma keeps us on our toes, that’s for sure,” Appelbaum said.

“To me she is more like a pet because here she never has her harness on except for when Valerie is leaving.”