[il-talk] Latest entries on "Why I Am A Federationist" page

[Brian Mackey]

Greetings to all,

 

Here are the latest entries on the Why I Am A Federationist page.

 

Jason Edward Polansky

I was born in Gettysburg, PA with a very rare form of blindness called
bilateral anophthalmia. Even though my mother was and still is a nurse by
occupation and had seen just about everything imaginable, her, my father,
and the doctors were in great shock when they looked at my eyes. They were
not sure what I would be able to do and how I would learn to accomplish
everyday tasks. We saw several different doctors until we were lead to an
eye surgeon, an ocularist, and education services in Frederick County, MD.
In a nutshell, our contacts led us to other contacts who introduced us to
the National Federation of the Blind. During their first convention, they
saw blind adults who had their own families, jobs, homes, and hobbies and
who were living the lives that they wanted to live. Most of all, they
learned to model a positive philosophy of blindness as a foundation as they
raised me. I attended public school just like all other children my age,
learned to read Braille, travel with a cane, and use technology as it became
available. As my teenage years approached, I had responsibilities including
cleaning my room, doing my laundry, taking out the trash, helping my father
with yardwork and handyman-work, just as many of my sighted peers did. I
also swam all four years of high school and was very involved in my church
youth group. After graduating high school with honors, I attended the
Louisiana Center for the Blind to increase my skills and confidence. While
there, I gained more confidence to travel in unfamiliar environments on my
own and improved my kitchen skills. I also built a cedar chest using power
tools, went to New Orleans during Marti Gras, planned a weekend trip to
Dallas, Texas, and cooked a meal for roughly 40 people. After graduating, I
won a national scholarship and felt ready to start college. I am now in my
sophomore year at Messiah College pursuing a bachelors of science in
business marketing. I am involved in several campus organizations, have
attended many networking events, held two summer jobs as a mentor to blind
youth, and excelled both academically and socially during my time at Messiah
College. I am also a member of the Maryland and Pennsylvania student
divisions, on top of all of these things. I know that I would not be the
person who I am today without the National Federation of the Blind.

Terry Hall

I first heard about the National Federation of the Blind in 2000 through
friends who were involved in the organization. I attended my first New York
state convention in 2000 and my first national convention in Philadelphia in
2001. At first I thought the federation was more of a social organization.

Many of the things the organization was working for didn’t really feel like
they applied to me. However, while I was unsure about some things, and it
took a while for me to understand some of the legislative issues and
resolutions, I slowly grew to believe in the Federation.

Over the years, my relationships with Federationists, including my affiliate
president and my girlfriend, brought me to a deeper understanding of the
Federation, what it stood for, and the impact it has on blind people. I
began attending chapter meetings more regularly in 2013. While enrolled in a
structured discovery training program I had the opportunity to attend events
like the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland’s Day in Annapolis,
which helped me feel connected to the legislative issues we were fighting
for at the time, as well as connecting me with other Federationists.

I’m a member of the National Federation of the Blind because we are fighting
for equal rights & opportunities for blind individuals across the country.

 

To learn how to have your entry included, please contact Patti Chang at
pchang at nfb.org <mailto:pchang at nfb.org> . The next two entries will appear
after converting the website to NFBNet as the new host provider. To read all
current entries, please visit www.nfbofillinois.org
<http://www.nfbofillinois.org> .

 

Sincerely,

‏‏

Brian A. Mackey

 

Brian A. Mackey

Owner, Mackey Enterprises, LLC

Treasurer & Webmaster, National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey

Webmaster, National Federation of the Blind of Delaware & Illinois

Member, National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Blind Users Innovating &
Leading Design (BUILD) Team

609-953-6988

 <mailto:Bmackey88 at gmail.com> Bmackey88 at gmail.com

 <http://www.mackeyenterprisesllc.com> www.mackeyenterprisesllc.com

 

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to pay the price to make
those dreams come true”

      -Vince Papale