[nabs-l] Some Questions...

Sat Jun 8 03:37:47 UTC 2013

I agree with everything everyone has said. I am fortunate that I 
have never wondered about my passion or my talent. I've been 
writing stories ever since I can remember, so I know I want some 
kind of career with writing. You should try different things and 
see what you like. I'm just going to give you my thoughts on 
internal motivation. Self motivation has to spring from desire. 
>From an early age, I saw that blind people were not always 
treated equally by the sighted world, and I told myself that I 
was going to be independent and successful despite my blindness. 
My motivation sprang from that desire and also from my 
competitive nature. What I'm saying is, you have to want it. It's 
not going to come to you. I wish you the best of luck in your 
training and career.

Best,
Sophie

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Jedi Moerke <loneblindjedi at samobile.net
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 22:11:36 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Some Questions...

If it's any consolation, those of us who have some sense of 
direction come across the same after training issues. I don't 
think it's necessarily a matter of not being able to direct 
oneself, I think it has more to do with the difference in energy 
level between the center and your home environment. The center 
environment is constantly busy. There is no such thing as free 
time, even when you're outside of class. There are people to see, 
activities to engage in, errands to run, extracurricular classes 
to attend, all  kinds of things. At home, things tend to slip 
back into a comfortable routine. For many of us, we have to 
literally train our families from the ground up. That actually 
takes a considerable amount of energy! For some of us, training 
shows us just how many options we have! For any person, whether 
they be blind or cited, whether they feel like they have some 
direction or not, the options alone can move us to inaction for 
fear of wanting to choose the best option. So the first step is 
to not be so hard on yourself. You had and have a lot of things 
going on right now.

So once you feel like you have cooled your heels a bit, There are 
some things you can do to bring up  the energy level. Since you 
are thinking about college and work the first step is to talk 
with your rehabilitation counselor. Your rehab counselor can do a 
number of things. You might think about taking a vocational 
evaluation. A vocational evaluation will clarify your skills, 
your abilities, your strengths, and your areas for growth. Also 
consider taking a career inventory. I highly recommend the 
self-directed search as it is the only instrument that has been 
validated for people with disabilities. This particular 
instrument was Validated by including persons with disabilities 
in the design of the inventory. So, it's not like a special 
inventory just for people with disabilities. This is good because 
there are no funky attitudes influencing it. And inventory like 
this can provide you a list of careers to consider. This list is 
based on a profile of interests, abilities, and past experiences. 
>From there, you can interview professionals already in these 
careers. You might even think about setting up job shadows. When 
you interview these professionals, ask for a realistic job 
preview. This is a truthful sketch of the positives and negatives 
about this career option. Once you've done some interviews and 
job shadows, think about what you have learned and decide whether 
or not you would be interested in a subset of your listed 
careers. Once that's done, find out what sort of education and 
training is required for success in these careers. This will 
determine whether or not you need to go to college or trade 
school. It might also give you a sense of whether or not you 
would be able and willing to jump through the hoops to get to 
that career. It would also give you a timeframe. For some people, 
the timeframe is extremely important.

After or while engaging in the process above, consider doing some 
paid or volunteer jobs this summer. Start by asking people you 
know. I have found less negativity about blindness from people I 
know then from total strangers. This is not a shoe in, but it's a 
pretty good bet. You may even have to think about developing your 
own job. I talked older Blind people how to use their computers. 
I also did a lot of diversity awareness trainings for folks. 
These jobs came about through my own creation because I was sick 
of hearing the word no. I didn't make a lot of money doing these 
jobs, but I did get some valuable experience. The money I did 
earn was helpful. Also, the federation has very is programs that 
need mentors. Think about signing up as a mentor for one of these 
programs now that you have finished training. This is another 
excellent volunteer experience. As someone who mentored at youth 
slam twice, I found the program not only helpful for the teens, 
but for me as well. I was also exposed to ideas and activities I 
have never been able to do before. Although I became a mobility 
instructor in the end, youth slam invigorated my love for 
science. Especially astronomy.

That ought to get you started. Just remember that you are not 
alone in this sense of listlessness. A lot of young people who 
are sighted  go through the same thing after they finish school. 
And just so you will know, I used Siri to scribble this message 
because I'm too lazy to do otherwise right now. So please forgive 
me in advance for any funky errors as a result. Thanks.

Respectfully,
Jedi

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 7, 2013, at 6:43 PM, Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com> 
wrote:

 Hi Everyone:

 I don't want to say too much on a public list, so I am going to 
try to
 keep this very general and just ask my questions.
 Basically, how did you decide what you wanted to do in life for 
a career?
 How did you pick your major?
 If you do not have much confidence in yourself, how did you find 
out
 what you were passionate about/wanted to do?
 How did you find internal motivation?
 How did you decide whether to go to school, or just get a job?
 What jobs can blind people do without a degree?
 What jobs can a blind person do just to gain confidence in 
themselves
 until they find direction?
 I find myself really struggling now that I am out of training. I 
did
 really well in training, but the goals I set in training do not 
apply
 now in the situation I am in because those goals were training
 specific. I think I also did really well in training because it 
was a
 routine and I got used to it. I was also always told what to do, 
or
 knew what I needed to work on in each class.
 I am really struggling finding motivation now that I am on my 
own and
 don't have the training center staff encouraging me, pushing me, 
and
 telling me what to do.
 My problem I think is if I am scared of someone, or I really
 respect/admire someone, or I am intimidated by someone, I will 
work as
 hard as I can and make sure to do everything they say. But, when 
just
 left to myself, on my own, I really really struggle to find
 motivation, make decisions about things, and find direction.
 Does anyone else find themselves struggling with this kind of 
thing
 after training or am I the only one?
 How have you gotten through it and found direction/your passion 
and
 what you wanted to do?
 The problem is my Rehab counselor called me today. He is someone 
I
 really respect. I am now stressing out because I want to at 
least have
 a plan for him when I return his call. I at least want him to 
think
 that after spending so much money to send me to training, I am
 motivated and am doing things and taking some sort of action 
rather
 than sitting around.
 But, I have no idea what jobs to look for or what to do. A 
Dunkin
 Donuts just opened here recently. Is there anything I could do 
there?
 I just want to show my counselor I have been doing something or 
at
 least have a plan.
 Thanks so much, and I look forward to reading your responses!
 Kerri

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