[stylist] Definition of blindness and pursuing goals

[Lynda Lambert]

This is my final comment on this subject. I have socks to knit!

Abraham Lincoln taught us that you cannot make anyone see anything that they 
have not already seen for themselves.
Blindness is not always a loss of eyesight, but it can be a loss of personal 
vision for your own future and your life.

I do not know how much the "average" 4 year university degree costs, but I 
do know it a a lot of money and that the students will be paying their loan 
payments for many years after they graduate. I know that when my loan 
payments started, I was overwhelmed at the reality check because I was 
working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs, and had moved across the country to have 
them. I was willing to move anywhere in this world, do whatever it takes, to 
pursue my career. And, I worked jobs that had nothing to do with my degrees 
(I had 2 at that time, and was working on a third one.) I believe that all 
work is worthy -  my philosophy has always been to do a job with dignity and 
do it as if I owned that business myself. I never worked for anyone - I 
always worked for me - because I understand that work is a good thing for 
us, and it is worthy no matter what we are doing.

 To get my MFA  degree, I had to work on it from 3 different states, and 4 
different countries during those 6 years. I was  willing to pay any price 
that it would take, go anywhere I needed to go because I had set my goal and 
I was going to make it regardless of the costs.

The  college where I taught costs over $100,000. for the 4 year degree, and 
that does not include extra fees and expenses - that is just for the 4 years 
of courses.  My granddaughter is now a freshman at a college in MA, and her 
tuition is over $50,000. a year.  She is a brilliant student, was in 
advanced placement courses and made straight A's all through high school. 
She worked jobs all summer long, every year, to save money for college. She 
has traveled to other countries to do volunteer work to help others have 
schools and churches, and to work with children. On her winter break this 
year, she traveled to South Africa to work in an orphanage. She worked and 
earned the money she needed to do this.

Many of my former students, and my friends from my own days in school, have 
a 30 year loan that they will be paying back - for 30 years!

People who choose an advanced education will be working their hearts out to 
repay the loans they have had to make just to be where they are.

One former student who is my friend, has had to move 12 times during her 
years of studies - from undergraduate, through doctorate degrees.  Her 
student loans are nearly $400,000. She married during the years of her 
pursuit and has 2 small children. One of her children was born with heart 
damages and has had to undergo surgeries that she will be paying on the rest 
of her life.

Professional people know that they will be moving a lot, that their dream 
job will be a hard road to travel - they have to be willing to go anywhere 
at all, and do it several times.

They know they will be building relationships with others in their field for 
years, because it is through those relationships that opportunities will 
come to them, eventually.  They will have to be "out there" in their field, 
getting the latest information; doing seminars and conference presentations; 
publishing in their field - no matter what it is that is requires; they will 
work extra jobs on the side because one job will not pay their living 
expenses and their enormous student loan payments. (I think the typical 
student will be paying anywhere from $500 - $800 a month, for their student 
loans. It is overwhelming.

Now, the reality is this: 48 percent of all of the students who get a 4 year 
degree will NEVER be employed in a job in their field.  That 48 percent will 
be working jobs that require only a high school degree, or no degree at all. 
There is somehow this notion, which is a myth, that if you get a college 
degree, you are set for life. Nothing could be further from truth.

What you do get during that time of working towards your degree, is the 
rigour and dedication that it takes to make it through. This is only the 
first baby steps in your career - you will have to work harder and smarter 
than you ever imagined, and much harder than you ever had to work to get 
your degree. And, you will work that way for your entire professional life.

You will have, as Brigit has pointed out, set-backs, disappointments, 
failures, mistakes, denials, and closed doors - but yet, for those who know 
who they are and have the tenacity to keep on going, it will all be worth 
the price you will pay.

The question is this: What price are you willing to pay to be where you want 
to be?
Are you willing to move anywhere in the world in pursuit of your job?
Are you willing to work 12 - 14 hour days, year after year?
Are you willing to keep on keeping on, no matter how difficult and crooked 
that road becomes?

Did you go to college for the right reasons? And, the right reason is not 
job training. It is because you are a scholar and you are a life long 
learner. Job training is best done in technical programs or 
on-th-job-training.
If you are there just because you think you'll get a great job, you will be 
in the 48 percent - why bother?

If you have help through scholarships or government programs, you are truly 
blessed. Do you have any clue as to the price that is being paid for you to 
have this? It is because you live in a country where there is compassion and 
because people want others to have chances at a good life, too. Be thankful 
to God for the country we live in. If you lived in any of the countries I 
have worked in, your life path would have been  determined while you were 
still a young child and it would not change for you.
Here, in America, you can do whatever you choose to do with your life. It is 
ENTIRELY up to YOU. YOU will be the one who decides where you will be in 
life - and you cannot blame anyone but yourself if you fail to make wise 
choices or grab opportunities that come to you.  It is possible for anyone 
in this country to excel.
It's not magic, nor is it luck, it is pure, old fashioned, hard and smart 
work - relentlessly pursued with no excuses.

Lynda





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:57 PM
Subject: [stylist] Definition of blindness and pursuing goals


> You misunderstand what some of us are trying to say. No one doubts that
> setting goals alone will take you to the top with little to no
> complications and set-backs. To go through life without the expectation
> of disappointment is wrong. To expect to have everything you want land
> in your lap with no work is the completely wrong way to look at things.
>
> You still have to set goals and takes steps to achieve those goals
> though. Networking and being in the right place at the right time is
> half the situation, but you still have to set goals and work towards
> them. You still need to find what steps are required for the outcome you
> hope to achieve. Then when in the right place at the right time, you're
> ready to go.
>
> You say Justice Sotomayor had special advantages. She did. She received
> scholarships because she received straight A's all through her academic
> career. She worked hard to achieve this. As I mentioned, she didn't get
> a job right out of law school, and during college, she worked several
> types of jobs.
>
> And you act as though someone like Justice Sotomayor received special
> treatment, but how many blind students are paying for their education?
> How many purchase their own technology for school? Do all your
> classmates or co-workers have rehab agencies assisting in the job search
> or acting as a liaison between client and employers? If blind people
> can't, or won't, work, we automatically qualify for government
> assistance. Do other people have this luxury? Even other disabilities
> don't receive the same level of assistance from the government as blind
> people do.
>
> So we can't really act as though we don't get special treatment at times
> either.
>
> I certainly haven't gotten this far in life without a few set-backs. I
> lost my vision at 22. There was no reason to think I would be blind. I
> had to learn to do things in a different way. I had to adjust to doing
> things this way. It wasn't always easy. I still went back to school and
> graduated, I'm still pursuing my goals though I'm focused on mommyhood
> right now, which is another goal of mine that didn't come easy for
> various reasons.
>
> No one said setting a goal would make achieving it easy, but if you
> don't set a goal at all, your chances of succeeding are slim.
>
> Bridgit
> Message: 9
> Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:09:09 -0500
> From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Definition of blindness and pursuing goals
> Message-ID: <F7051D48ECFA45CDA800245BB169623A at OwnerPC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> Lynda,
> I generally try and be positive despite attitudes and setbacks too.
> I hold onto goals and career aspirations too.
> But first you have to often start at the bottom and prove yourself,
> especially being blind in a capitalist society.
> Its great to say the rags to riches stories; I've heard many of them and
> even know people who have big degrees and great jobs who came from low
> class
> backgrounds. For instance, there is a blind guy named Mario Bonds; he
> and I
> had the same O&M teacher growing up.
> He was raised by his grandmother because something happened to his
> parents.
> I forget all the facts.
> Anyway, he graduated from George Mason university with his chosen
> degree.
> I think he has a job or at least is looking for one. I know last I heard
> he
> had gotten some government internships while in college.
>
> I'd have to say though that attitude isn't enough. You have to have
> resources and someone willing to take a chance.
> Take employment for instance. You will more than likely be hired by a
> sighted person. You have to sell yourself and  overcome any stereotypes
> that
> employer has to get to your goal job. You may be real positive but other
> societal barriers are out there. I had a rude awakening when me, a
> middle
> class
> college student, went to the government for internships.
> I found substantial barriers! I mean hello people, all the positive
> beliefs
> and me saying I could do this and that for them means nothing if you
> are not given tasks to show your skills or half the software you cannot
> use.
> Barriers such as visual software, even inaccessible time sheet software,
>
> lack of accessible online training, and not given tasks that showed my
> skills were apparent.
> The government has an unfunded mandate in section 508. That section says
>
> that all I T products have to be accessible.
>
> What bothers me about rags to riches stories is that it ignores the
> circumstances you have. Some things are beyond our control and you can
> only
> do so much to get past barriers. I know blind intelligent people looking
> for
> work.
> They are trying harder than most have to. Might I add that when they
> land a
> government job if that is what they want, they are often not promoted or
>
> given chances to get training and move up the chain.
>
> So, those are just some things to overcome. I'm sure Ms.
> Soto Mayor overcame a lot. I'm glad for her. But I bet she had some
> opportunities created somehow; if her parents were poor, they surely did
> not
> pay for her college; she probably got scholarships or grants.
> We do not live in a vacuum as humans so we have to somehow somewhere
> depend
> on others for part of our success.
>
>
>
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