Philip Durkee grabbed a hot dog and fries and wheeled off as quickly as possible.

Durkee, a graduate assistant, took part in Step Into My World, an event that took place as part of Disability Awareness Week. As part of the event, Durkee had to navigate Union Drive Marketplace and get himself food while using a motorized scooter.

Although Durkee has no disability, Step Into My World allowed students to explore campus using a motorized scooter to simulate mobility disability. The event’s goal was to help people understand what it feels like to have a disability.

“Things just take longer to do and I was worried about being in other people’s way,” Durkee said.

Durkee said he already started to understand difficulties that students living with disabilities go through every day, despite using the scooter for only a short time.

“Just this little half hour isn’t even close to what a life of disability feels like,” Durkee said.

While being confined in the scooter, Durkee said he felt as if people were looking at him differently. He also said he felt he constantly needed to be planning the easiest routes to take with the scooter.

Several students opened doors for him and one girl gave up her table so he could have an easily accessible table.

“I’ve definitely noticed some looks, not necessarily bad ones, just people staring a little longer than normal,” Durkee said.

While the event suffered from low attendance, Durke said he wishes more people would participate in the future.

“[This event] kind of reinforces the stereotype,” Durkee said. “It reinforces the privilege I have too because I can try out this chair, but I have the ability to step out of it at any time.”

Steven Moats, director of Student Disability Resources, has been running the event for ten years since he began working for student services in 2004.

“The world is designed for people with mobility,” Moats said. “Participants get a short glimpse of what it feels like to not have that mobility.”

Moats said in past years the event was even more elaborate, with ramps and obstacles for students to use. They were unable to use them this year due to storage problems.

Student Disability Resources provides students with programs, services, and facilities for students with disabilities. Moats stressed that not all students have disabilities that are visible to the naked eye.

Moats also said one way to provide assistance to students with disabilities is something as simple as professors posting their lecture notes a few days in advance. He believes disabled students have the same ability to succeed academically but just need a little extra help to do so.

“We’re all a little different,” Moats said. “Understanding people who are different than us is so important.”

Other Disability Awareness Week events include a meeting today at 6 p.m. in the Student Services Building lobby in hopes to revive the “Alliance for Disability Awareness” student group. The Disability Awareness Summit will take place from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Oct. 17 in the Memorial Union.