Blindness and Low Vision Studies
I Chose Salus
I have been wanting to become an Orientation & Mobility (O&M) specialist for the longest time, and finally took the leap of faith to enroll at Salus University this spring!
As a person with Oculocutaneous Albinism, I once was a client of The Commission for the Blind and worked with an O&M specialist who taught me the proper, and safest ways to independently travel as a person who was legally blind. As a person who is also legally blind, I have always wanted to give back to the blind community, and I know that my calling to do this is through O&M.
Earlier in my academic career, I worked with a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI). After seeing how passionate I was about advocating for independence for the blind, she suggested the O&M program here at Salus University. Additionally, she informed me about the scholarship and encouraged me to apply for both. To be honest it didn’t take much persuading, I knew this was exactly what I wanted, and so, I jumped at the opportunity.
With great honor and humility, I accepted the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) scholarship, which aims to increase diversity among O&M and TVI professionals by supporting students who are multilingual and/or come from traditionally underrepresented groups in our fields.
Here is what my typical day looks like:
As a single mother of three, I start my day off at the break of dawn, waking at 5:30 every day. After getting my children ready, and grabbing a quick cup of coffee, we are off to school.
After dropping the kids off, I take the next hour to ready myself for work, and by 9 a.m., I am ready to start my workday.
Currently, I work from home. During one of my two breaks, I will have a quick bite to eat, and during my lunch, I usually will look over course modules, assignments, or any other tasks that need to be done for the week.
At 5 p.m., my workday ends. My children have afterschool extracurriculars that end by 5:30, which gives me enough time to take a quick breather and pick them up for the day.
Once we arrive home, and after a quick snack, the children begin their homework, while I start on dinner, helping with any work as needed.
By 8 p.m., we have eaten, schoolwork and showers have been completed, and it’s time for the children to have a little down time before bed. During this time, I will work on any schoolwork, assignments, or course modules that have not been completed.
By 10:30 p.m., I am done for the evening, and start my nightly cool down routine.
