Page 56 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

SORRY, WE’RE NOT HIRING ANY VISIONARIES TODAY
He said, “Well, you should tell your story because I’m sure you have an inter- esting one.” After I told him, my professor offered to become my mentor and to start speaking for his courses. This is how it all started. After this, I joined Toastmasters.
I’ve always felt like, even before knowing that I had a visual impairment, I felt like something was going to be different. I sensed I wasn’t going to live a con- ventional life. I always had visions of doing something big and great. I just didn’t know what it would be.
An entrepreneur sails through life, hops on trends, and creates one. They an- ticipate something that’ll work, and they take risks. I do that; I try new things and see where it goes.
My sight keeps going down. I can’t calculate how much. I know it’s going down because I get new challenges occasionally. For example, one day, I couldn’t find a door handle. The other day, I started walking into glass doors. I get dis- oriented on a street that I’ve always been on. That’s how I know that it’s pro- gressing.
I can access PDF files because I have a reader on my laptop and phone. I used to hate technology, but now it helps a lot.
I see my progressive blindness as a gift, not as a curse. Some think it’s crazy and doesn’t make sense because it is counterintuitive. But it is an opportunity to do something for the world with it. I felt it was my responsibility. It would be selfish if I didn’t do anything about it. The answer started coming to me, and I realized this was my opportunity. It is my gift, blessing or whatever you may call it.
I started speaking in 2019. I won’t miss a chance or an opportunity to be out there and live. At the start, I was trying to hide my visual impairments because I was so embarrassed. Before I started using a white cane, you couldn’t tell that I was visually impaired. I was getting into so many awkward situations. But there were some funny ones too.
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