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VIDBE-Q Volume 62 Issue 3
guided and assisted them throughout Penn State's dining halls, gave them advice on high school
issues or college questions, and much more. We also got to experience their college classes
first hand and learn an immense amount about the vision field while seeing them in action.
Calling Summer Academy a "job" is a complete understatement, however. In three short weeks,
Summer Academy became a way of life. For these three weeks, we lived with these 23+
students, 30 other resident assistants, and numerous staff members.
One would anticipate that this experience would be rewarding, but no one can prepare
you for the gratifying change that the students and the program can and will have on a person's
life. Most students come into the program timid and concerned, but during the month of the
program the students shape into incredibly independent individuals. The opportunity to share
this experience with the students is priceless. Watching the students of Summer Academy grow
and find confidence in their abilities to complete life tasks independently would give anyone the
drive to become a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI).
This program is the perfect summer job for someone looking to expand his or her
experience in the field of blindness and visual impairments. Summer Academy exposes staff to
all the new technology in the vision field, the best Orientation and Mobility practices, valuable
visual rehabilitation skills, and many more beneficial techniques to transfer into the classroom.
Summer Academy certainly provides future TVIs with many educational benefits including what
to expect from students in the classroom and how to approach certain situations. Each day the
students are learning therefore, so are we.
Similarly, Summer Academy provides an emotional experience with the students that can
provide guidance as to how to approach different students' emotional responses to having a
visual impairment. Building relationships with the students at Summer Academy gives a better
understanding of what it is like to be a high school student who is blind or visually impaired. As
