[nabs-l] Action Plan, the Final Chapter

[Joe Orozco]

Dear all,

I can't believe I've been posting my nonsense to the list for ten years now
and perhaps even more surprised that David Andrews hasn't booted me off yet.
Anyway, I have just a couple more reflections and pieces of advice before
calling it good.

In terms of organizational development, I would opine that while the NFB is
great at helping people recognize or regain their confidence, confidence is
something you always possessed.  Yes, it is preferable that your confidence
be drawn from an organization with a strong view of independence like the
NFB, but the problem with helping people find something they always
possessed is that as soon as that characteristic has been cultivated, the
NFB is no longer as crucial to that person's development or future success.
This is, in part, why so many students graduate and are never seen or heard
from again.  It is worth your time as the future leader of the movement to
evaluate your membership in the context of a changing environment and not
merely as a large number of people on whom you can rely to raise money and
call legislators.

Second, you need to feel free to test the philosophy.  Before anything else,
the NFB is about people.  People thrive on personal relationships, and the
only way to establish a personal relationship among students is to engage in
some of the activities that students are likely to be interested in
participating.  No, I am not suggesting NABS put out some kegs and bring
Marti Gras to a National Convention.  I am suggesting that the student
division set up opportunities to cultivate camaraderie of the sort that
makes people eager to come back and help, not just obligated.  It would be
nice for the student division to reserve a room at some restaurant away from
the convention hotel in Orlando for a casual happy hour reception.  It would
be neat for the division to find a group rate to Disney World and use the
opportunity to show our blindness philosophy in practice while having a
little fun.  Perhaps there is something behind establishing an alumni group
for those members now too old to really be engaged with NABS?  The idea here
is to shift NABS from a slow and steady esoteric body to one that embraces
the nature of human interaction and highlights the portion of the NFB
philosophy that says blindness can be reduced to the level of a nuisance.
There's a cynical part of me that believes that if blindness is indeed a
nuisance, we should not be spending so much time talking about it and ought
to be spending more time living in spite of it.

Like most things, there is a balance.  There is a time for work, and the
division needs to determine what it is that it wants to make its main
objective.  If the purpose is to retain members long after their graduation,
there needs to be more interaction and communication and general exposure
with chapters and affiliates to groom strong leadership.  Do not assume
students will independently seek them out on their own.  The next generation
of affiliate presidents and boards should be receiving ample preparation in
the student division while the demands of life are still minimal compared to
the responsibilities of real adulthood.  Work and personal schedules only
get busier, not lighter.

If the purpose is educational equality, the division ought to be inserting
itself into more dialogues with mainstream educational bodies to ensure the
division is creating new standards, not just responding to individual
incidents.  NABS ought to become a household name in DSS offices,
rehabilitation agencies and other relevant entities.  Organizations like AER
are only perceived as not getting it because we do not do enough to teach
them better.

If the purpose is employment preparation, the division ought to be
brainstorming ways to help connect students with the tools they need to
excel in that aspect of their development.  NABS ought to be establishing
relationships with major corporations to explore possible co-op or
internship opportunities.  I was excited to see the division revise the
NABSLink website, but I was a little sad to see a lot of the education and
career resources Peter and I had put together removed from the current
version, or maybe I'm just an idiot and couldn't find them.  That's entirely
possible.

My critique is of the system and the mind frame, rather than of any board or
even any individual.  I genuinely believe people run for the board because
they want to make a difference, but when life catches up on the other side
of the election, it's easier to go with what is than to venture out and
explore what could be.  I just want you to understand that there is nothing
wrong with legacies.  A person who is arrogant enough to say they want to be
your board representative should be just crazy enough to push the envelope
and leave the division in a more improved state than his or her predecessor,
not because arrogance has to be a negative quality or because the notion of
improvement means that the status quo is inadequate or because the current
leader is trying to show they are better, but rather, because this is how
you grow and strengthen and say to the world, "this is where we are, and
more importantly, this is where we're going."  The NFB could not have made
it as far as it has if its leadership hadn't decided over time to shake
things up, and as daunting as it may feel, you are the future of the NFB.
What good is it to claim you are the leading organization in a certain field
if you do not show evidence of that claim?

Here are the only other two suggestions I will make on the point of NABS as
a general body:

1. Campaign.  I don't know why it has been generally frowned upon to
campaign for positions on the student board.  Are people that insecure?
People should know what it is you want to achieve on the board that you
could not just as easily achieve as a member.  If the poster child of the
moment has some good ideas, they ought to feel confident enough to defend
them.  No one should feel entitled to any position anywhere.  Competition is
healthy.

2. Elections.  I also don't know where this nonsense of 30 seconds per
election speech came along.  If a person has the courage to stand up there
and talk about why you should vote for them, by golly give the man or woman
enough time to form their thoughts.  This isn't to say candidates should
ramble eternally, but the most frustrating aspect of the last controversial
election was hearing the candidates being cut off before they could
adequately express themselves.


If you're still with me, I want to give you three other pieces of advice
that have nothing to do with the NFB or NABS:

First, stay on top of current events.  You will be more informed and more
articulate about the world around you if you actually know what is going on
around you.  Everything has a way of relating to everything else, and you
will never be overwhelmed or underestimated if you take a moment to learn
the why and the how of the activities across the street and across the
globe.

Second, think long-term, invest.  Nothing is ever certain, and even with the
limited income so many college students live off of, it is possible to begin
making wise decisions about your money from an early age.  Everyone should
consider experimenting with the stock market at least once in their lives,
and if you stay on top of current events, you will be more confident about
the ventures into which you entrust your capital.  Education will help you
get ahead.  Financial education will keep you there.

Finally, make technology your slave, not your master.  Understand that you
will always be behind the next greatest innovative tool or the next upgrade
or the next firmware, unless it is free or unless you are throwing money at
everything that comes out, and if you are doing the last, you are not
following my second piece of advice anyway.  Technology is good so long as
it does not make you ignorant of the basics skills that are faithful when
technology fails.  Learn Braille, even if you can see enough to walk without
a white cane, because it is ultimately better to learn it and one day use it
than to one day need it and not have it.  And, learn how to maximize what
you have.  Experiment with every feature on each menu in your software at
least once so that you know exactly what the product does before the Freedom
Scientifics of the world tell you that you absolutely need the next edition.

Okay, I don't know if this post is as good as the original 20-page version,
but I think it mostly covered what I was thinking...

I want to thank you for entertaining all my rambling posts and ideas.  I
first joined the student list when I was a freshman in college.  It's never
failed to be a fantastic resource of information and an introduction to
great friends, two of whom this list has regrettably seen pass away.  Though
I plan to take an extended break from the NFB, I'm always an e-mail away for
anyone who wants to keep in touch.  Take it easy, and here's to the future!

Yours in service,

Joe Orozco

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing