[nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hello,

Joe raises some excellent points.
As a young adult, I feel the same way. There are so few young professionals 
in local chapters that there is such a generation gap.
Joe said
"I think there is
a place for young professionals in the movement that could be cultivated.
Right now, you either grow up with NABS or you suck it up and deal with the
old-timers of the chapters. No, nothing wrong with the older people. I
learned a lot from them, but reality says most up and coming young
professionals not already familiar with the organization are not going to
join unless they have a reason to make it a priority."

Amen. One reason I feel a big disconnect between nfb and me is the 
difference in age. The adults are either already working successfully and 
secured jobs long time ago when computers were not as graphical and complex 
or they lost vision recently and are not working yet again, or they are 
retired.
I feel my struggles for access to the workplace and need for professional 
mentors is not really met by the local chapter; yet I still usually go 
because I can identify with some of the problems we face and I like hearing 
the presidential message to update me on advocacy of the federation.
Joe is right. You either grow up with nabs or don't join.
Young professionals won't join as its not a priority for them. At least 
locally, how meetings are run would not usually appeal to them.

I echo what Joe said in that I hope the nabs board can make a place for 
young professionals. Maybe starting with a committee of nabs would be a 
start, as someone else suggested.

Joe, I hope you do return to nfb someday as well.
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Joe
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 8:02 PM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing

Here here to Sean and his board for their great work. I think things with
the NABS board have gotten a lot better since Terri's presidency. My only
observation, whether it's good or bad is up to the reader, is the retention
of NABS members after the student division years are over. There are a lot
of people who burn out on the NFB, and after there is no NABS, there's
really no more NFB. Yes, there are local chapters and state affiliates, but
there are also families and professional responsibilities that significantly
reduce the amount of time a person can devote to the cause. I think there is
a place for young professionals in the movement that could be cultivated.
Right now, you either grow up with NABS or you suck it up and deal with the
old-timers of the chapters. No, nothing wrong with the older people. I
learned a lot from them, but reality says most up and coming young
professionals not already familiar with the organization are not going to
join unless they have a reason to make it a priority. Me, I'm honestly still
burned out. Logic says that I should just make the NFB a priority, but there
is also the matter of enjoying the life of equality the organization fights
to obtain. In short, not everyone wants to make the NFB their life. So, does
that mean there is no room for whatever contributions we want to make? I
guess that's up to future leaders at all levels of the organization to
figure out, but times are changing. The relevance of the consumer
organization as we know it will be redefined by the contact and immediacy of
social networking. I'd devote another hundred pages to the subject, but I'm
tired of my own rants. Take this for whatever it's worth.

Joe


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