Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
12
↓
I just need to vent a bit. Graduated college, feel like I have no future because of my vision problems. (self.Blind)
submitted 5.2377630529835395y ago by Neptune2284
I was born with ONH and it left me almost completely blind in my right eye and with limited vision in the left. I knew growing up that my options in life were going to be limited: I would likely never drive, playing sports that required any sort of hand/eye coordination was pretty much out the window, and my employment options weren't great.
I just graduated with my bachelor's in criminal justice. I knew from the beginning that jobs like being a patrol officer or sheriff's deputy wasn't going to happen but I held out hope I'd find something, anything similar that I'd enjoy and want to pursue as a career. But it hasn't. I've spent countless hours scouring job sites looking for something I could do that excited me as much as the idea of law enforcement, but nothing does.
Right now I work as a security guard for the university police. It's a good job, don't get me wrong, but it's not something I could do for the rest of my life. That, and I almost dread going into work some days. Not because I don't like the job, but I'm working around a bunch of people who are doing exactly what I'd dreamed of doing, but will never be able to do. It's like a daily reminder that I'm not good enough, and will never be good enough. It hurts. There are days I just want to leave it behind and forget that I even tried because I know I'll never meet that goal.
I don't know what to do anymore. I feel trapped, like no matter what I do it's never going to get better. There are days when it seems like I'm resigned to a life of mediocre, dead end jobs and never feeling fulfilled. And it feels like I just wasted the last five years getting a degree I probably won't be able to use
Sorry for the wall of text. I know this isn't really accomplishing anything but I just needed to get it off my chest.
I just graduated with my bachelor's in criminal justice. I knew from the beginning that jobs like being a patrol officer or sheriff's deputy wasn't going to happen but I held out hope I'd find something, anything similar that I'd enjoy and want to pursue as a career. But it hasn't. I've spent countless hours scouring job sites looking for something I could do that excited me as much as the idea of law enforcement, but nothing does.
Right now I work as a security guard for the university police. It's a good job, don't get me wrong, but it's not something I could do for the rest of my life. That, and I almost dread going into work some days. Not because I don't like the job, but I'm working around a bunch of people who are doing exactly what I'd dreamed of doing, but will never be able to do. It's like a daily reminder that I'm not good enough, and will never be good enough. It hurts. There are days I just want to leave it behind and forget that I even tried because I know I'll never meet that goal.
I don't know what to do anymore. I feel trapped, like no matter what I do it's never going to get better. There are days when it seems like I'm resigned to a life of mediocre, dead end jobs and never feeling fulfilled. And it feels like I just wasted the last five years getting a degree I probably won't be able to use
Sorry for the wall of text. I know this isn't really accomplishing anything but I just needed to get it off my chest.
LanceThunder 10 points 5y ago
this might surprise you but i think that your feelings are actually pretty common among recent grads. sure, you have some added challenges that most people don't have to think about but the feelings are common.
-
when i was in your position one of the things i had to accept was that maybe i would never get a job working in a field that was related to my education background but it was still worth the effort. i had gained so much useful knowledge that didn't only apply to work but to how i managed my life in general. i'm more disciplined and resourceful now that i have a degree.
-
you might want to try and reach out to people you know that are working in the field and start a conversation with them about where a person with vision impairments might fit in. being fresh out of school there is a lot about the industry that you still don't understand. there might be a good place for you that you don't yet know about. once you figure it out you have to build experience that positions you better int he work place.
-
when i was in your position one of the things i had to accept was that maybe i would never get a job working in a field that was related to my education background but it was still worth the effort. i had gained so much useful knowledge that didn't only apply to work but to how i managed my life in general. i'm more disciplined and resourceful now that i have a degree.
-
you might want to try and reach out to people you know that are working in the field and start a conversation with them about where a person with vision impairments might fit in. being fresh out of school there is a lot about the industry that you still don't understand. there might be a good place for you that you don't yet know about. once you figure it out you have to build experience that positions you better int he work place.
coryeyey 2 points 5y ago
I have to agree with this. Many of my friends who are recent graduates are feeling this same exact way. And these are people with STEM degrees. It's pretty common.
B-dub31 7 points 5y ago
I worked in public safety myself prior to my vision loss. I had to retire because I could no longer drive—which was necessary for response— and lacked the visual acuity necessary to safely do my job. It was very frustrating and I understand how you feel. Your visual impairment will be make it hard to break into the field.
My suggestion would be to stick with your current position for a couple years and get some experience on your resume. Education is great, but education and experience is even better. Have you considered maybe something like pre-trial services or even becoming a telecommunicatior? It’s not as exciting and public facing as an LEO, but there are things in public safety you could do to be a part of a team and feel satisfied that you are serving. You might be able to move into a security or facilities management role as well. Good luck!
My suggestion would be to stick with your current position for a couple years and get some experience on your resume. Education is great, but education and experience is even better. Have you considered maybe something like pre-trial services or even becoming a telecommunicatior? It’s not as exciting and public facing as an LEO, but there are things in public safety you could do to be a part of a team and feel satisfied that you are serving. You might be able to move into a security or facilities management role as well. Good luck!
zerosledge 6 points 5y ago
It’s tough. No doubt about it. I live in Australia and I think the difficulty in employment is similar for blind and low vision to your country (I’m guessing US or Canada since you’ve talked about college)
My experience is that it’s harder for people who don’t know me to take the leap and hire the low vision person. People I’ve worked with - in general - are pretty impressed. I make it a point to run faster and jump higher. It isn’t fair, but it works. You don’t need to impress everyone. You just need to impress enough people. Be optimistic. Be likeable. And hopefully things will go your way.
Job hunting is like dating. It might take a few dates to find “the one”. You might be single for a while. You might be in a bad relationship once or twice. But you just gotta keep dating. And you only need to find one.
Everyone in our situation goes through this. And people will be impressed that you succeed not because of your vision problem, but despite it.
Keep moving forward my friend.
My experience is that it’s harder for people who don’t know me to take the leap and hire the low vision person. People I’ve worked with - in general - are pretty impressed. I make it a point to run faster and jump higher. It isn’t fair, but it works. You don’t need to impress everyone. You just need to impress enough people. Be optimistic. Be likeable. And hopefully things will go your way.
Job hunting is like dating. It might take a few dates to find “the one”. You might be single for a while. You might be in a bad relationship once or twice. But you just gotta keep dating. And you only need to find one.
Everyone in our situation goes through this. And people will be impressed that you succeed not because of your vision problem, but despite it.
Keep moving forward my friend.
rainbowroad09 2 points 5y ago
Where is your empire did nothing wrong paper
estj136 1 points 5y ago
I think setting a reasonable goal is important. I did not choose law enforcement for that reason or something more visual. I want to be a politician, something you don’t necessarily to do. I think I wouldn’t make a bad sheriff. Or something like that, but that’s unrealistic. I had to think of something I could do whilst being blind. Figured out competitive journalism wasn’t great so I changed it. The nice thing is what I like to do is non-visual or could be done non-visually.
SlapstickVampire 1 points 5y ago
I'm no expert, but from my assumptions I think the best thing a blind person with a specific interest can do is start a podcast about their specific interest and then tie it into disability.
Raf_AL 1 points 5y ago
I know the feeling mate.
I'm studying sound engineering at the moment. I love it a lot and it's pretty accessible for visually impaired people. One big problem is unfortunately that to make it accessible, you have to pay for hardware, which unfortunately is very expensive.
I want to work in radio in the future, and that doesn't seem to be a big problem tho.
One of my other goals is to become good at djing, which as been quite a struggle. I'm doing some djing with a sighted friend, but I'd like to do it on my own someday. The big problem in this case is that the only accessible DJ software is not legal to use for professional work. Finding a good controller will be easier tho, if I can get some hands on experience. That what keeps me going. Being optimistic takes you a long way. Don't give up on what you want to do with your life. Sure you might not get the greatest job out there, but think small. One day someone will be happy that you were the security guard, who was there at the right time.
I'm studying sound engineering at the moment. I love it a lot and it's pretty accessible for visually impaired people. One big problem is unfortunately that to make it accessible, you have to pay for hardware, which unfortunately is very expensive.
I want to work in radio in the future, and that doesn't seem to be a big problem tho.
One of my other goals is to become good at djing, which as been quite a struggle. I'm doing some djing with a sighted friend, but I'd like to do it on my own someday. The big problem in this case is that the only accessible DJ software is not legal to use for professional work. Finding a good controller will be easier tho, if I can get some hands on experience. That what keeps me going. Being optimistic takes you a long way. Don't give up on what you want to do with your life. Sure you might not get the greatest job out there, but think small. One day someone will be happy that you were the security guard, who was there at the right time.
djquik1 1 points 5y ago
Djay 2 is not legal?
Raf_AL 1 points 5y ago
Apparently not. it has something to do with song licenses I think. Most people I've asked for solutions says that I should try Djay 2, but hey always conclude by pointing out that it's not legal for professional use.
djquik1 1 points 5y ago
So what are you using? I would like to dj on my laptop
Raf_AL 1 points 5y ago
My friend is currently helping me out with song selection. We use traktior Dj with a Numark mixtrack pro 2 controller. My friend suggested that I should try to put the font size on maximum. I downloaded Serato DJ to see if you could do it on that as well, since I'm looking into buying a Pioneer controller. I can read the text without zooming in too much on my PC, but I haven't tried it on my macbook yet. Haven't tried downloading traktor to pc yet, so can't say if it would be better. I can however say that Serato is pretty good on my eyes so far.
Edit: Changed the word sound to song.
Edit: Changed the word sound to song.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.