Today I met someone who is probably going to change my life.
My student teacher, Carmela, and her entourage of support people, came in for our initial meeting.
Turns out Carmela really is, well, blind. (There was some discrepancy for a few days.) She can only see out of the bottom right quadrant of her right eye. She really has no other vision.
Amongst all the chit-chat about what equipment she would need, arranging her transportation, discussing the font size she needs on handouts, figuring out how they are going to rip apart a textbook to enlarge it for her, and mapping out exit routes and other paths to various locations in the building, I learned several things. 1. Carmela was Valedictorian of her high school class. 2. She worked for the American Embassy in Panama, providing translation services. 3. She trained to be a translator for domestic violence victims. 4. She has a smile that lights up the room. And she is always smiling.
Carmela will be with me for a few months, past my "fun" intention. But Carmela isn't going to be just fun; she is going to teach me patience, kindness, Spanish while she's at it, love, and scores of other things. Most importantly, she is going to open my eyes to the most beautiful world that she sees, and I can't wait to see it.
it is amazing what we take for granted isn't it
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