[NFBF-Tampa] Campaign Introduction

Mon Feb 5 01:39:06 UTC 2024

Good evening everyone. After reading Miranda’s message to the list this evening I gave her a call to talk a little more fully about the Board position that is open for election at our next meeting since I am indeed interested in putting my hat into the ring for this position. I’m new around the chapter since last November was my first meeting in almost 8 years but now that I’m back I’m eager to jump in with both feet; I actually remember trying to get active in the chapter when I first moved to Tampa but my address in Valrico wasn’t covered by Hart+ and it was too difficult to attend meetings. I’m now living near Citrus Park mall and Hart+ helps me when I need to get around. When I learned about the positions coming up for election this month I actually considered running for the President’s position but after some careful thought I decided that such a move would be imprudent since I just became a member and I don’t really know how things are done. I thought that perhaps getting a position on the Board would allow me to take more of a leadership role in the chapter and learn what I need to know before the next time the President’s position comes up for election. 

Since I still haven’t had the opportunity to get to know more than just a small handful of people from the chapter I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself to everyone in this email so I can tell you who I am and about my background so you can judge whether I might make a good addition to the Board. I am completely blind as a result of a bad car accident in 1993 when I was 17 years old. I received my blind training at Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and got my first guide dog less than a year after I awoke from a 2.5 month coma which followed my car accident. Having a guide dog as a teenager going back to high school was my first experience with the prejudice that all too often visits service dog users; my high school didn’t want me to return and I had to fight the county up to the district level and involve my attorney to get the local school system to accept that a service dog should be allowed into my high school and I should have the right to choose what high school I go to and not be relegated to a special high school which had a program for blind students like me. I wasn’t about to allow myself to be pigeon-holed into some special program  at a high school I’ve never encountered when I still had a good mental map of the high school I had previously attended for 2 years. In reflection going to that special program potentially could have benefitted me but at that stage in my life I needed to control my environment as much as possible and minimize my confusion as a way to deal with my recent loss of vision. In any case that was my first opportunity as a person with a disability to fight for my rights and I enjoyed the experience so much that it’s kind of made me a bit of a crusader all my blind life. 

     Before I lost my sight I had done a few years of training in Kung Fu and I used martial arts to help rehabilitate my body after I awoke from that coma. After regaining my body through a lot of physical therapy and getting things more or less settled in my life I went back to training Kung Fu at the studio I had previously attended. I was certainly the first blind student my instructor had ever had and I’m pretty sure he had never trained someone with a severe physical disability like mine. We worked together to figure out how a completely blind student like me needs to be taught. What I learned from this experience was that there’s no reason to believe that I can’t do something other people think I can’t do simply because most people haven’t ever heard of someone doing it or believe it’s just not possible. Before I went away to college I took part in a martial arts tournament with other students who were not disabled and believe it or not I took 1st place in the forms competition. I spoke with one of the judge’s afterwards and he told me that I genuinely won the competition because my technique and intensity far outstripped the other students; he assured me that my lack of sight had nothing to do with his or the other judge’s assessment of my skills. 

     After finishing up at high school I decided it was off to Tallahassee to get my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. I had always been planning to attend a 4 year university and my career choice might have shifted, and the location of that university likewise shifted, but I still decided without knowing anyone in the area to up and go to FSU. While at FSU I continued my crusader predilections and did things like become part of the Greek social life on campus and I became a Founding Member of a chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi , I helped to begin a students with disabilities organization and worked on the executive counsel of that group for a couple of years, I took part in campus Student Government to represent all students with disabilities, I spent many a semester in the gym helping the student trainers learn how to work with a client who has a disability, and I trained with several martial arts groups including a Taekwondo studio where I achieved the rank of black belt. I tried to get active in the local chapter of NFB but I felt completely out of place because I was yet a teenager and all the members of the chapter were basically seniors. Due to my passion for disability rights I was actually part of the first group of students who went to DC to form what I believe became the National Association of Blind Students. 

In the end I graduated with high honors, Magna Cum Laude, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. I decided at that point in my matriculation that the idea of mental health therapy wasn’t the best avenue for me so I instead took the LSAT and went to law school at FSU. I thought my somewhat aggressive nature when it came to standing up for myself and my drive to make sure that people with disabilities weren’t discriminated against would stand me in good stead and give me the motivation I needed to become an attorney. I got through that insane process and passed the bar at my first seating. Shortly thereafter I met my future wife, got married, and followed my wife around, due to the contractual nature of her profession, and took positions where I could that allowed me to help people who needed representation to help them live their lives. 

     Now I find myself here in Tampa with 3 young boys, Joshua and Michael are 10 year old fraternal twins while Theodore is their 8 year old brother.  I’m working with my 4th guide dog named Lance; he’s a 40 pound black  Standard Poodle from Guide Dogs of the Desert. Just by chance I learned of the last state convention being held here in Tampa and it inspired me to once again become active with the NFB. I’ve been a member of several chapters through the last 30 years without sight but in the past I was never in a position which allowed me to consider taking on a leadership role. I don’t know if becoming a father has anything to do with it, or simply becoming more mature as the years roll along, but I think that now is a good time for me to take my passion and dedication and take on a leadership role with the NFB. 

     So now that I’m finished bending your ears or making your fingers numb from reading this long message that none of you were expecting to receive I’ll close out by simply saying “it would be an honor to become part of the Board of our chapter of NFB and I’m looking forward to many years of supporting our chapter in whatever position everyone thinks will be most beneficial to the continued growth of our local chapter and the promotion of the ideals of the National Federation of the Blind!” I’m available by phone, text, or email if anyone would like to chat with me. Have a great night and I’ll catch yawl at the next meeting. 

Scott Greenblatt 

M: 8134601606 

Sgreenblatt76 at gmail.com

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