For some students on campus, every day is a challenge — a challenge that a majority of students never have to deal with or even consider.

For disabled students at Iowa State, everyday chores and activities others take for granted can become painful, aggravating tasks.

The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity and the University Council on Disabilities began Disability Awareness Week on Tuesday, and activities conclude Thursday.

Kedrin Moser, GSB representative for the university Council on Disability and GSB’s deputy director for disabilities, said GSB participated and assisted with events because it believes disability awareness and handicap accessibility are important to campus.

Rick Cordaro, GSB chief of staff and senior in electrical engineering, experienced first hand the challenges of being disabled by participating in the Disability Awareness Week program, “Step Into My World.” He spent one hour confined to a wheelchair. Moser spent an hour Wednesday in the world of a blind student, as did GSB President T.J. Schneider. Provost Ben Allen spent an hour in a wheelchair.

Cordaro said GSB and ISU administration were involved because through the activity they are able to see what they can do to help disabled students.

Schneider said that was exactly the case. He said the experience gave him a new perspective on access issues as well.

“It wasn’t like anything I had imagined,” Schneider said. “I felt very vulnerable to natural things around me and people. It was all an obstacle.”

President Gregory Geoffroy has created two task forces to address the issues of disability on campus, said Alicia Carriquiry, associate provost.

Carriquiry is the chairwoman of one task force — the President’s Task Force on Diversity. The other is the President’s Task Force on Improving Access to Programs and Services.

During the hour Cordaro attempted to get around campus in the wheelchair, he said it was extremely difficult.

“My arms were so tired when I finished. I knew that using a wheelchair required a lot of upper arm strength, but I never really knew just how much it required,” he said. “There were a lot of things I started to notice because I was in a wheelchair that I probably wouldn’t have noticed other wise.”

Cordaro said the thing that frustrated him the most was trying to get into buildings without handicap accessible doors. Other obstacles he said he encountered were situations such as handicapped accessible doors that would only open on the way in and not on the way out and finding someone with a key for the handicapped accessible elevator in the Memorial Union.

“It was so frustrating when I went to the Memorial Union. I didn’t realize the [wheelchair] ramp was by the Zodiac and that to get to B6 I had to go outside and around to the back to get to a ramp,” he said. “No one at the [Memorial Union] had a key to the [handicapped accessible] elevator or knew of anybody who did … so I had to go around and find someone who had a key, so that I could get to the GSB office.”

Cordaro said he needed help with some of the tasks.

“I was fortunate to have someone help me, and I realize most students don’t have people there to assist them. I don’t know what I would have done if I had tipped over. I do know it would have been a serious problem. I am also glad that it didn’t snow or rain. If it had, it would have been impossible for me,” he said.

And when his hour was up, Cordaro said he was extremely relieved to get up out of the chair.

“When I walked out of the building, I immediately looked for a [handicapped accessible door] button and a [wheelchair] ramp. That was when I realized I don’t need a button, a ramp or an elevator,” Cordaro said. “I realized [disabled students] have to think 10 steps ahead. They have to think about how they’re going to get to a place and how and where they’re going to get into and out of a building. It was definitely something I wasn’t used to, because I can just put one foot in front of the other and I am there.”

Katie Blummer, senior in aerospace engineering, has a rare genetic bone disorder called fibrous dysplasia. This genetic disorder displaces bone fiber causing them to be very weak and break easily.

Because her bones break easily, Blummer has had metal pins and rods inserted into her knees and legs to help giver her bones more support.

She said living with a disability doesn’t get easier as time goes on, but she said she has learned to cope with the frustration and obstacles associated with her disorder.

“The more I walk the more I break [bones]. I guess I just know what to expect now,” Blummer said. “Now when I break [a bone] it’s not a big deal. I’ve learned to move on.”

Blummer said she has had trouble with people, including professors, who don’t understand her disability.

“I had a professor tell me he wanted me to give him one week notice before I break a bone. It’s not like I plan to break a bone this week, on this day. It just happens,” she said.

She said she gets upset with people not taking time to think about disabilities, but she understands people mean well.

“I just wish people would be more considerate. People who have a disability might not look like they have one, and people just need to be aware and considerate of that fact,” Blummer said.