When I returned to college as a non-traditional student who happened to be newly blind, I somewhat expected for others to have low expectations of me. However, I had rather high expectations of myself. This concept was instilled in me , quite literally, from birth. My mother was an educator; need I say more about the level of expectation within my family?

I was anxious and excited to go back to school as it had been twenty years since I’d earned my Bachelor’s degree. I experienced some subtle discrimination out of misperception rather than malice but For the most part, my peers and professors were kind, decent people. Although there were students and professors who did not believe that I could succeed in the program let alone the field of Counseling Psychology, I did. The majority of my peers and professors found that I excelled as a student. My peers sought my assistance in studying for exams and in conceptualizing case formulations. I was even awarded a grant to conduct research on students implicit bias against the blind and what educational interventions made the most significant difference in reducing bias while in graduate school. I took the same tests, had the same requirements and performance expectations that everyone else in my class did and I graduated with a 3.95 GPA. I thought that I would be immune to discrimination because I had high expectations of myself, so wouldn’t everyone else?   

When the time came for our class to procure placement for our practical experiences (a requirement for graduation) everyone in my group began applying and interviewing for positions. I thought, rather naively, that because I met the same requirements as my peers and because I had excellent grades, that I would easily get a placement. As soon as the interviewer saw my cane, I would get questions like “are you worried about safety?”, “You can use a computer?”, Are children afraid of you?”.

After graduation we all began looking for jobs.  Again, I thought, “I have really high expectations, wont everyone else?”  I soon found that they did not. I went on numerous interviews that didn’t work out. I got the same types of questions as I had in graduate school. I knew that I could do the job but worried that no one else thought so.

I asked for (and received) lots of great advice from my Federation Family which led to me being placed! For the two-and-a-half years that it took for me to complete the three thousand hours of supervised work, I was a contract therapist seeing children and adults with anxiety, depression and behavioral disorders. I have never had a client have low expectations of me; they assume that I am the expert that can help them with their problems.

My husband and I moved a few months ago and I thought it would be easy to find a job in our new city. After all, I was now fully licensed, had been employed with the same clinic for three years, and was a pretty darn good therapist.

After three months of interviewing with all the same questions being asked again, I still had not found a job. I was commuting two-and-a-half hours each way to continue working for income. At that point, my husband and I decided that we would embark in opening a private practice for me. On October 1, 2014, my dream came true. Although I have had many people think that because I’m blind, I would not be able to successfully complete graduate school and be a good therapist capable of helping others live the lives they want, I am proving them wrong. Because of my family’s belief in me since I was born, and later on, the belief that I felt from my Federation family, I have, with love , hope, and determination, turned my dream into reality.