Chana Gigliotti

Chana is a 21 year old student with a love for both science and the arts. She began her studies as a Vocal Major at a Creative and Performing Arts High School. From there she decided to continue her education at Chatham University, an all women's college in Western Pennsylvania, where she studied Elementary Education with a focus in Mathematics education. In her Junior year, she studied abroad at the University of Haifa. She took a year off from studying education and mathematics to study writing and literature. She learned two things from this venture. The first was that she was not destined to teach small children. The second was that she absolutely could not live without math and science.

While abroad she also had the opportunity to visit France, Germany, Austria, and India (which included a trip to the Tibetan refugee village of McLeod) . She learned a great deal about many crucial world issues, as well as about herself and where she fit into that world.

Upon returning to the United States, due to financial reasons, she was forced to leave her university. She is currently attending Community College. She decided to use the opportunity to study what she was truly passionate about: Physics. She is currently applying to four year universities to complete her undergraduate degree in Physics, and is thoroughly looking forward to the next stage of her life.

While in high school, Chana was diagnosed with Intracranial Hypertension (IH) which caused her to lose much of her vision at the age of 15. While in high school she learned how to use a long white cane, braille, and other assistive devices. The summer between her senior year of high school and freshman year of college, she attending the Seeing Eye, a guide dog school in Morristown, NJ. She trained with her much loved guide dog whom she worked with for several years until she was forced to retire her not long after returning to the United States.

Even though she is busy with school, and is studying som