July 5th, 2022
On this day, I was attending the National Federation of the Blind’s 2022 Convention. While attending this convention, I had the opportunity to go to the exhibit hall, where I was able to meet staff members from Guiding Eyes. It just so happens as @shelbi_nichole reminded me after saying “You realize who you did that Juno walk with?” My response, of course, was no, because I didn’t know many of the staff members who worked there and there was also a lot going on, as I did my Juno walk. It just so happens that at the time, the person who did the second Juno walk was the head of admissions. When I found that out, I didn’t know whether to feel happy or even more nervous.
June 3rd, 2022
On this day, I had my home interview with Guiding Eyes. If I wasn’t nervous enough about the interview itself, my dad mentioned that he had to be home because my brother was going to be playing on the radio at the same time as my home interview was happening. Overall, the interview itself went better than I expected despite everything going on that morning.
During the interview, I was asked questions about my lifestyle, where I saw myself in a year, five years, etc. Then after the interview portion was completed, I went on a walk to show my cane skills and practice with Juno. For the first part of this route, I had to show that I could independently go to a destination using my cane. On the way back, I was able to do a Juno walk. A Juno walk consists of the handler, holding the handle end of the harness and the instructor, holding the harness body. The reason this is done is to help the handler feel what it would feel like to be guided by a dog. At first it felt very different from my cane, but as time went on, I got used to the feeling of going around objects instead of running into them.
When I returned from this walk, I was told that I did really well. I was also told that I should hear within the next six weeks whether or not I would be accepted into the program at Guiding Eyes. Being given this information so soon after finishing the Juno walk gave me some sense of hope that this just might work this time, as the last time I was told shortly after my Juno walk that the particular organization, I was going through was not going to be able to help me.
May 31, 2022
Not even 24 hours after all of this documentation was submitted I got a call from my local GDMI asking if she could come to see me the next week. Being in shock to get that call so quickly was an understatement. I was hoping to have a couple weeks before I had to tell my dad what I was doing. You see, I hadn’t told him even until up to this point that I was applying for a guide dog. It wasn’t until after I confirmed an appointment for that next week that I had to make a phone call to him to let him know, as we were gonna have to get the house in order. He was, of course, really happy that we were going to go on this journey once again, but I was just really nervous about this part of the process, as this is where my application stopped the last time.
Late April-May 2022
After completing the initial application, I had to submit a number of documents, including medical documentation, an eye report, an orientation and mobility (O&M) report, and recommendations. I was able to complete all of this documentation in the matter of six weeks. I got very lucky in that all of my medical appointments happened in this six-week period after applying. It also helped that the (O&M) instructor that did my documentation is also a really good friend and classmate, so we are in constant communication.
If having a good friend and classmate, who was also an (O&M) instructor was not a sign enough to apply for a guide dog at this point in my life, then having a dangerous encounter with a six-lane intersection should have been sign enough. I mention this fact because as I was walking from my office at the university to one of my routine ophthalmology appointments, I almost did not make it across this six-lane intersection. As this encounter happened, I could only think “I am so grateful I have the needed forms in my bag for my ophthalmology appointment to take the next step on this life changing adventure.” Although I had this near miss with this intersection I in no way shared this experience with my ophthalmologist, but I remember mentioning it to my dad as he had picked me up after.
April 18th, 2022
On April 18th, 2022, I applied. This was not after a trip to Chicago with a few other guide dog users as part of the National Association of Blind Students Midwest student seminar. During this trip, I realized it was really time for me to apply for a guide dog, especially because I couldn’t keep up with the other guide dog users. After completing this application, I texted @shelbi_nichole saying “ok, I bit the bullet.” Her response was almost immediately with “Yay!” As she knew exactly what I was referring to.
On the Chicago Riverwalk with a few friends.
February 2022
As a result of starting and stopping my application several times the Guiding Eyes admissions team saw this, so in about February 2022 they randomly called me and said, “we see you have a started application, if you would like to proceed, please finish the application because our lists are kind of long right now.” Although I did get the call, I was still extremely on the fence, so in about March 2022 I sent an additional text to my local GDMI asking her to look over some documentation about my eye conditions to ensure that I would be qualified. After doing so, I realized that most likely I would be.
July 2021
Fast forward to about July 2021, after I mentioned several encounters to @shelbi_nichole where I had almost got hit by cars because I did not see them coming. She was tired of hearing these encounters, so she said here, let me just give you our local Guide Dog Mobility Instructor’s (GDMI) contact information, so you can at least have a chat. I took that information and sent a text to schedule a call. After that call, I felt like it really could be possible, but there was still a thought in my mind as to what if I got a second denial? As a result of this call, I didn’t apply right away; rather, I started my application. Then I stopped, then I started my application again then I stopped.
Fall 2020
It really started in fall of 2020 when I met over zoom @shelbi_nichole for a college of education meeting. During this meeting, I casually said “oh yeah, I have low vision also.” Her proceeding question was “how do you navigate campus?” I naïvely said, “just with my cane.” I was not expecting her response, which was “why, how, no. Have you thought of getting a guide dog?” I was more expecting the answer of “oh, ok” when answering her question of have I ever thought about getting a guide dog, I responded “it’s not for me.” You see, I applied for a dog early in my vision loss journey, but it didn’t go well, as a result of my additional mobility needs, so I never thought it would be possible. During this meeting, she explained that there was a guide dog school in New York that offered this thing I had never heard of called specialized training for people like me, who have additional disabilities. When this was first mentioned, I thought it could be possible, but I was still extremely on the fence.
What I did not realize during that initial call was that @shelbi_nichole had just graduated with her first guide dog in February 2020, so she understood firsthand how life changing having a guide dog is and how this particular school adapts to each individual student’s needs.