[Txabs] Keeping TABS Issue 2013-03 All About Seminar

Wed Apr 10 20:12:32 UTC 2013

Howdi Y’all,
We are pleased to bring you the March/April edition of Keeping TABS,
our student division newsletter! This edition of the newsletter is all
about our recent third annual Parent and Student Seminar which was
held April 5 through the 7, 2013 in Austin Texas. We’d like to thank
this month’s authors Harley Fetterman and Eryn Stubblefield for taking
time to write these articles.
As always, if you’d like to write for Keeping TABS, feel free to
contact our editor, Monica Villarreal at mmviga at gmail.com
The newsletter is pasted below, as well as attached.
Enjoy!

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Keeping TABS
A Publication of the Texas Association of Blind Students

Gabriel Cazares, President
Maria Monica Villarreal, Editor

Websites:
www.nfbtx.org/tabs
www.twitter.com/txtabsters
www.facebook.com/tabs.members

>From the editor: you may have noticed that March was a quiet month on
the Keeping TABS front, but you’re about to find out why. We have
combined the March and April additions into one so we can bring you
double the fun this month! The 3rd annual TABS and TPOBC Joint Spring
Conference was held the weekend of Friday April 5 through Sunday April
7, 2013 in Austin Texas. The theme for this year was Winning At Life,
and this month’s edition of Keeping TABS brings you the conference
through the perspective of two of our attendees. The first article was
written by Harley Fetterman, a freshman in high school, in which he
discusses the presentations that had the most impact on him very
eloquently. The second article was written by Eryn Stubblefield, a
junior at the University of Texas at Arlington, in which she gives us
a convention roundup in a very unique and funny way. Both of these
students are a part of the NFB of Texas Project CHANGE Program, which
along with NFB-Newsline were our premier conference sponsors. Be sure
to read more about them at the end of this newsletter. Now, we invite
you to sit back, relax, and enjoy this conference rundown told through
our student’s voices!

TABS and TPOBC Conference: Winning with Good First Impressions
By Harley Fetterman

What could possibly unite a doctoral candidate in organic chemistry, a
NASA mathematician, a journalist, a fashion show, a panel of
college-students, and an NFB National Representative? All of these
people spoke about succeeding based on first impressions at the TABS
and TPOBC conference.  Even though we are blind, we live in a sighted
world, where appearance and perceived capabilities define first
impressions.  We must make those first impressions work towards our
success.  Although there were many equally informative speakers, I
chose this group to summarize what we learned at the conference.
At 1:00 p.m.  Saturday, 9 students lined up for the fashion show.  The
show was to demonstrate what to wear to different job situations.
Sighted people get strong first impressions from things such as
clothing.
Hoby Wedler is a chemist getting his doctorate.  Even though chemistry
is very visual, he has succeeded because he exudes an air of
intelligence.  This first impression will carry him far.
Robert Sheldon is now over a team of programmers working for NASA.  To
get to where he is now, he concentrated on learning everything he
could.  When asked about how he got his doctorate, he said, "I was
just too stupid to be scared." Because he exudes so much confidence,
he was able to become a NASA mathematician.
	Liz Campbell is a journalist with the Fort Worth Texas Star-Telegram
newspaper.  Her first impression was that she would not be hired by
the big papers because none of her friends had been hired.  However,
one of her professors said, "You are not your friends." Because her
professor gave her this encouragement, she gained confidence in
herself and gained a job with her current employer.
	In an exclusive interview with one of the parents that attended the
afternoon session of the TPOBC conference, (my mom,) I learned about a
college student panel, in which each student talked about how hard it
was to accept that they were blind.  However, as Britney Culp
explained, once we accept our own blindness, other people will be more
accepting of it as well.  This confidence and dignity that acceptance
has given to each of these students, will lead them to succeed as
individuals in a visually oriented world.
Anil Lewis closed the night with a speech about being successful in
job searches.  One of his key messages was if you do not act helpless,
people will not treat you like you are helpless.  One example from his
speech about first impressions was when he went in for an interview,
appearing sighted.  By pretending to be sighted, the interview focused
on the skills that he could bring to the job, rather than the fact
that he was blind.  This first impression got him the job on the spot.
 Ironically enough, just before being hired, the woman told him the
company wanted somebody with a disability, after which he whipped out
his cane.
First impressions are very powerful, as illustrated by all of the
above individuals.  All of these people have come to be successful and
will continue to succeed because they demonstrated that they brought
responsibility, confidence, and intelligence to the situation.  A good
first impression is the key to starting any successful relationship.
Therefore, always put your best foot forward, and the chances of
succeeding at the task will go up exponentially.

My Convention Roundup
By Eryn Stubblefield

TABS continues to make me extremely proud to be a member, and the
Student/Parent convention this weekend was no exception. Friday
brought in an excellent pasta dinner, giving everyone a chance to
mingle which is absolutely imperative for us social butterflies!
Speaking of social butterflies, Saturday morning not only kicked off
the start of our great speakers, but our challenge to promote our
organization through Twitter using the hash tag NFBTXWIN. In my humble
opinion we took this challenge by storm, and really put us on the map!
Most noticeable was the tweets about those awesome cupcakes! We had
the opportunity to show our star power and red carpet potential
through a photo shoot for the cause! Who doesn’t want the opportunity
to show off canes and low vision tech in a fashionable and positive
way? As we continue to show off our finest throughout the day we
arrive at banquet time. Talk about good food, good friends, and a good
old fashion speech to promote living life to the fullest! We were
reminded to stay current and take on each and every challenge life
throws at you. We wrapped up this weekend with an open board meeting.
It really gave the members an opportunity to see how the meetings are
held and how hard our officers are working to keep the organization
going strong. Everyone was encouraged to get involved and attend his
or her local chapter meetings. There is a lot of work to be done and
it takes all of us! We have an individual responsibility to support
the NFB and eat as many chocolate Braille coins as possible!

About our Sponsors:

Winning at Life powered by CHANGE! Project CHANGE is the NFBT’s new
workforce readiness program; it empowers blind youth and young adults
across Texas by helping them develop the vocational and blindness
skills necessary to reach their full career potential. Project CHANGE
is made possible by a generous grant from the Texas Workforce
Commission. For more information about Project CHANGE contact Richie
Flores or Nicole Gurgel at youth at nfbtx.org or (512) 323-5444.

NFB–Newsline is a free service that makes hundreds of newspapers,
magazines and job listings accessible to blind and print disabled
individuals via phone or a secure web site. To learn more about or
sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE®, please contact Stephen Tompkins at (512)
323-5444 or stompkins at nfbtx.org

-- 
Gabriel M. Cazares, President
Texas Association of Blind Students
A Division of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas
Phone: 713-581-0619
Email: gcazares at nfbtx.org
www.nfbtx.org/tabs
www.twitter.com/txtabsters
www.facebook.com/tabs.members
Visit our homepage for more information on the 2013 Parent and Student
Joint Seminar!
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