Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, I moved to Tallahassee, Florida in August, 1995, after serving four years in the U.S. Navy, to attend Tallahassee Community College. In December of 1996, at the age of 23, while visiting family in Ft. Lauderdale, I was caught in a domestic dispute between my father and step mother, which resulted in me being shot in the head leaving me completely blind. Eight months later, I received training and my first guide dog from Southeastern Guide Dogs, which enabled me to re-enter Tallahassee Community College.

Four years after loosing my sight, I decided that I would re-acclimate myself to the physical fitness side of life that I had been so involved in, running track in high school and staying fit while serving in the Navy prior to becoming blind. With the support of my wife, family, friends and the community, I completed my first triathlon (swim, bike and run) in March 2001. I was immediately hooked! I found a sport that challenged me both physically and mentally. With a sighted guide I compete in the physically challenged blind category by swimming beside my guide while we are tethered by a four foot bungee cord around each of our waists, biking using a tandem (bike built for two), and running beside my guide again tethered with a bungee cord around my waist.

About a year later, I was accepted into the FSU's School of Information Studies. Though my first choice for a degree when starting college wasn't in this field, I also wasn't blind back then either. The tough thing was that I didn't know what I wanted or even could do as a person without sight. Luckily, after a few hours of testing at the career center, the choice was pretty obvious. As a career, I chose the field of Information Studies for a couple reasons: my fascination with technology and it's capabilities, which are constantly evolving, causing society to depend on it more and more.

As the first Blind student (on campus) in the IS program, my experiences were both challenging and rewarding. In the beginning there were many questions such as how to provide computer lab access not having speech software, how I would take notes, read and take tests. I use a text to speech software program called JAWS for Windows (Job Access With Speech), which converts the text on a screen to a synthesized voice. To overcome the speech issue, we turned to the FSU Student Disability Resource Center to provide a licensed version of the JAWS until the school could purchase its own copy. In addition, other resources such as a tremendous faculty, note takers, readers, scanners, etc., were also available.

Looking back, I'd say life so far has been a success, from growing up and starting college, becoming accustomed to being visually impaired, earning my degree, and now working in the professional environment. Don't think however, that there weren't obstacles and lessons learned along the way. Perhaps the most important example of an obstacle I have faced was the transition from being a sighted to a blind individual. It was learning that frustration, anger and impatience really gets you nowhere. In school, it was learning to work with the system, and not against it. I've also learned that I'm an educator to those who just don't know how, or have never interacted with a sight impaired person. Maybe it's by me being outgoing and helping a person feel comfortable around me by conversation, guidance on how to assist someone when walking, or even humor.

In all, I've learned that success is only what you put into it. It's you that must put forth the effort, and not expect life to be handed to you on a plate just because you have a disability. It's understanding that if things are going to change, and they can, it may take time. In addition, it's your willingness to learn, grow, help others, and mature as you move forward.