I have come to know a group of people who know the difference between a hand up and a hand out. I was a student this summer at the Colorado Center for the Blind.
Before arriving at the center, I thought: “Why am I going? I really don’t need the training that they have to offer.” But in the first week, I acquired skills in cane travel that I never had before. I learned that my “excellent” cane-handling skills were actually not so excellent. My instructors completely changed the way I carried a cane and taught me echo location, which I never thought of using before. In technology, they taught me the skills I will need to go forward in high school and college and be a success.
I could go on and on about what the CCB has done for me to improve my life and make me a more independent person, but the paper doesn’t have enough space.
I asked a couple of my fellow students why they came to CCB and how they feel about it now that it’s over. Ahmad Abukdair, who has become a very good friend of mine and will be starting the adult program as soon as the summer program is over, said: “My dad just came inside my room and said that I was going to Colorado for nine months. At first I didn’t want to go, but I saw the practicality to it.”
I asked him if he thinks he would have been more successful in life without the two months here.
“Not at all,” he said. “I needed this.”
One of the best experiences the center provided was getting the students a job for two weeks. Since I expressed interest in becoming a lawyer – or “professional liar,” as I like to call it – and an interest in politics, the center was able to get me a job shadowing Littleton Independent reporter Jennifer Smith. I went to all of her nightly meetings, including city hall meetings, where I got to see debate over the historic preservation code and learn about economic development. We attended a meeting at the Buck Recreation Center, where people expressed a desire for a new community garden.
The most exciting thing I got to do was go to the preliminary hearing of Nicholas Javier Zapata, who is accused of being a conspirator in the stabbing of a convenience-store clerk.
After the meetings, I wrote news articles about them as though I was a reporter. I have learned from this experience that reporters are like teachers – overworked and underpaid.
My roommate, Colbey Walsh, worked at Auto Information Network Center of Colorado.
“I worked with a new operating system,” he said. “I learned how to use a Linux system. It was interesting to use a computer system that I’ve never used before. Also, the travel experience was good. I traveled from Littleton to Boulder.”
I often wonder why people choose to work at CCB.
“I love watching blind people come and realizing that they can do things for themselves, getting a work experience possibly for the first time, looking at blindness in a different way, and setting expectations for themselves,” said Brent Batron, youth coordinator.
“It’s rewarding to watch people grow and get comfortable with the techniques we teach and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to the mall. I’ll be back later,’ all on their own,” agreed travel instructor LJ Bowens.
Student Eric Miller was surprised when he was asked to fill in for a counselor who had to leave.
“Are you kidding me? I would be going in blindly, not really knowing how to teach,” he told staff.
Now he’s applying to teach there permanently.
“I love teaching people the techniques they will need in life,” he said.
Being around these people made me realize that they do what they do for the joy of others getting to be on their own, watching people do things for themselves, and just plain watching people live their lives like any other human being. CCB has done that for me. They have allowed me to live my life.