About Me
Standing on Flattop Mountain in Anchorage, AK
I am a 17 year old high school student with a dream of teaching kids who are blind or visually impaired. I live in the city of New Britain Connecticut and attend New Britain High school full time. One thing that sets me apart from most though is that I am visually impaired. I have a condition called macular hypoplasia and I have a visual accuity of 20/80 which means what someone with perfect vision can see from 80 feet, I can see from only 20 feet. However, because of my disability, I have been introduced to a field that I love.
I got started with camp counseling when I attended a summer camp for the visually impaired when I was 9 called Camp Inter-Actions based in Georges Mills New Hampshire. I started out as a camper of course but I loved the camp so much that I went back again and again. By the time I turned 15, I was accepted as a Counselor in Training there where I assisted counselors and served as a role model for campers. I then began to expand my horizons so to speak. The next summer I was hired as the senior Counselor in Training for the Connecticut divisiion of Camp Abilities. Here I was responsible for three campers throughout their camping experience through sighted guide, nightly routines etc. I also supervised other CIT's and made sure their needs were met as well. It was here where I met one of the directors from Camp Abilities Alaska. He pitched the idea to me and I loved it.
This past summer I attended Camp Abilities Alaska as planned. the experience was extremely rewarding. I worked one on one with an athlete and instructed him on many activities. In Alaska I won the best counselor award and was invited back this upcoming summer.
In the meantime I continue to work as an Intern for Connecticut's services for the blind at many of their weekend program such as the Sports Adventure Weekend Series, the Siblings Weekend and as an athlete on Connecticut's USABA Goalball team.
Throughout my experience I truly believe that I have found a field that I will be happy in and I have already started applying for colleges with this major in mind. Hopefully Camp Abilities Alaska will give me the additional experience I need to be prepared in what I expect to be a very demanding field.
I got started with camp counseling when I attended a summer camp for the visually impaired when I was 9 called Camp Inter-Actions based in Georges Mills New Hampshire. I started out as a camper of course but I loved the camp so much that I went back again and again. By the time I turned 15, I was accepted as a Counselor in Training there where I assisted counselors and served as a role model for campers. I then began to expand my horizons so to speak. The next summer I was hired as the senior Counselor in Training for the Connecticut divisiion of Camp Abilities. Here I was responsible for three campers throughout their camping experience through sighted guide, nightly routines etc. I also supervised other CIT's and made sure their needs were met as well. It was here where I met one of the directors from Camp Abilities Alaska. He pitched the idea to me and I loved it.
This past summer I attended Camp Abilities Alaska as planned. the experience was extremely rewarding. I worked one on one with an athlete and instructed him on many activities. In Alaska I won the best counselor award and was invited back this upcoming summer.
In the meantime I continue to work as an Intern for Connecticut's services for the blind at many of their weekend program such as the Sports Adventure Weekend Series, the Siblings Weekend and as an athlete on Connecticut's USABA Goalball team.
Throughout my experience I truly believe that I have found a field that I will be happy in and I have already started applying for colleges with this major in mind. Hopefully Camp Abilities Alaska will give me the additional experience I need to be prepared in what I expect to be a very demanding field.