[Akron-Talk] The Difference a National Convention Can Make, by Alex French

[Jessica Stover]

Yes! I’m glad he’ll be apart of our chapter!

On Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 8:45 PM Dave Bertsch via Akron-Talk <
akron-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> The Difference a National Convention Can Make
> by Alex French
> Editor’s note: The following article speaks for itself. I was one of the
> people that Suzanne Turner asked to talk with Alex. It was clear that he
> needed what he could learn from the national convention. We got to work to
> make it happen for him. Here is his story of what he learned at convention:
>
> It’s June 25, and I’m in a dark place. I had recently had a doctor’s
> appointment in which I was told that there wasn’t any noticeable
> improvement in my eyesight. I had a brain tumor back in December, and the
> resulting surgeries left me in the dark, literally and figuratively. I am
> now totally blind after having perfect vision for twenty-nine years of my
> life. I was a firefighter, expecting to buy my first home with my
> seven-year-old daughter. Instead, I was moving back in with my parents,
> effectively unemployed, and learning how to live as a blind person. Enter
> the National Federation of the Blind.
>
> When I discovered that I might never have eyesight again, I began to do
> some research to determine my best route to regain my independence. I
> discovered the Louisiana Center for the Blind, BLIND Inc., and the Colorado
> Center for the Blind. So I decided to contact each and gather some
> information. This was how I learned about the National Federation of the
> Blind. I had decided to contact the Cleveland chapter of the NFB since it
> wasn’t far from my home. In this conversation I learned that the national
> convention was just two weeks away. Newly blind, I had no idea that this
> organization even existed or that they had a national convention. Suzanne
> Turner, the Cleveland chapter president, said that I should try to attend
> because it would be a life-changing experience. She was absolutely correct.
> But, with only two weeks before the convention, how would I pull this off?
> That’s when I learned how amazing this organization really is. Suzanne
> reached out to some contacts within the organization, and they found me a
> room. Not only did they find me a room, but someone was gracious enough to
> cover the cost of the convention, because they believed the experience
> would be so life-changing for me. Moreover, my mom happened to be off work
> that week. The stars seemed to be aligning for me. My mom and I were able
> to find flights and would be attending our first convention together.
>
> As for the convention itself, it was life changing for me and also for my
> mom. This was really our first time being around blind people. We live in a
> small town and had never met another blind person. At convention we met
> some amazing people. In line to check in, I met a guy my age living in
> Chicago and attending school there. I also met a gentleman from Boston who
> lives in New Jersey and works as a regional sales manager for a major
> company. We met a school-age girl who was part of the CCB summer program.
> She was there alone. These were just the people I met checking in.
>
> I got to attend multiple seminars, including a Sports and Recreation
> meeting, where I learned about blind baseball and blind hockey. I also
> attended an empowerment seminar, where multiple speakers discussed how they
> are able to overcome the low expectations of the general public. We met
> blind lawyers, doctors, and teachers. I quickly learned that I could do
> anything I wanted. My blindness didn’t have to hold me back.
>
> This was equally important for my mom to learn. To this point she had seen
> me go from completely independent to learning how to navigate the house
> alone again. There was a veterans’ division, so I got in touch with them as
> well since I had served 10 years in the Air Force. It was there I learned
> about the veterans’ ceremony, in which they introduce all of the blind
> veterans. The blind veterans also did a presentation of colors, with a full
> color guard. This ceremony left my mom in tears.
>
> This was just the start. We decided to explore the exhibit hall, where we
> learned about all the assistive technology available today. We also met a
> lifelong guide dog user who gave me his number so I could contact him with
> any questions if I decided to get a guide dog. Perhaps more important to my
> mom, we met one of the owners of Two Blind Brothers, a clothing company
> completely designed by and for the visually impaired. My mom was elated. As
> we walked away from their booth, my mom turned to me and said, “I can
> totally see you doing something like that.” It was a truly powerful moment
> for me. The next day was our last unfortunately; we had to leave early
> because of a death in the family.
>
> We decided to attend the LCB luncheon, where I met even more amazing
> people, including Pam Allen, the executive director of the center, and half
> of the staff. I also met Caroline, who has become my best friend and has
> even started helping me learn Braille. We have grown very close and
> continue to help each other grow stronger and spread the word about the
> NFB. Later that night, we met with fellow Ohio people for dinner, including
> Ohio president Richard Payne, the Cleveland chapter president, Suzanne
> Turner, and the Akron chapter president, Dave Berch. It was an awesome way
> of ending my first convention.
>
> The experience overall was absolutely unbelievable. I would highly
> recommend taking a trip to the national convention to anyone who could
> possibly make it. It truly was life-changing, and this is only half of what
> I actually wanted to share about the convention to further express how
> life-changing the experience was. Since attending, I have learned to ride a
> bike as well as race my daughter in the swimming pool. This organization is
> amazing, and I’m happy to say that because of the connections I made at
> convention and the help of its members I’m attending LCB this fall. This is
> just my first experience with the NFB, but it will be one of many more to
> come. My mom and I are already looking forward to next year's convention.
>
>
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-- 
peace

Jessica Stover
jjstover at kent.edu
jessicastover10 at gmail.com
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