If you ask anyone from my school days—elementary or secondary— I am sure they would all tell you how much I enjoy running. I am not sure where this started, but it is something I love to do and miss now that I am older. I have thought about joining a Track and Field team, but that has its own challenges and is a blog for another time.

I still remember my elementary school days where braille was a big part and perhaps the only medium in which I accessed and produced information. I remember my hands taking in the words and the way they were spelt, the way everything was laid out on the page which included the way in which paragraphs were split, what was bolded, what was italicized, or where a comma or semicolon was placed.

With each passing generation, our society has become increasingly visual. And now, there is hardly a millennial or Gen Z who doesn’t go through the process of taking a photo and sharing it at least a few times a day. Cellular phones with cameras are now common, almost essential, rather than the novelty devices they used to be. And being in the information age, where things move at lightning speeds, it means that people no longer feel they have the time to send detailed messages about what they may be doing.

When one is a child, their parents are mostly the ones who are speaking upon their behalf. One example of this would be at a doctor’s office. As a child, we rely on our parents in these circumstances to advocate for our medical needs. They hold on to important paperwork such as your health care card or forms for their kids, and for those of us with disabilities like blindness, this often can continue on into our older years.

As many people know, Instagram is a very popular social media platform. Especially in today’s generation, Instagram is very “in”, particularly amongst people our age. Because of this reason, many blind or partially sighted teens and young adults also wish to hop onto the Instagram bandwagon.

Most children love crafts, and I was certainly one of them. So many colours and options to always choose from. However, being that I was born blind, being involved in crafty activities felt challenging as a child. A constant struggle for my younger self use to be the perfection and accuracy sought when it came to the final product.

Accessibility is very important for all of us, not just for people who are blind but also for people who have other disabilities and people who are sighted. Accessibility is not just technology as some people believe but it is something that makes life easier in any kind of way. It can be anything from a screen reader that lets you navigate your phone, to a puck or a ball with sound to help you play a sport.

I miss the days when Math was as easy as 1-2-3, and I could rattle off my times tables without missing a beat. Now, I despise anything to do with math - even simple measurements and counting money. When I reached grade 7, I was taken out of mainstream math classes in order to be taught by my vision teacher. I was told that this was because math is a highly visual concept, so therefore my vision teacher would be able to teach it in a different way.

For my 7-year old son, waking up on Easter morning is almost the most exciting morning of the year. He has learned that the Easter Bunny comes while he’s sleeping, and hides chocolate eggs and small toys all around the house, and he spends Easter morning happily searching for and collecting his treats.

Glossy covers, the smell of printed pages, and the various stories captured in the pages are just some of the reasons I adore books. Yet along with the excitement of reading comes a pang of disappointment each time I pick up a book and flip through its pages but am unable to read the words penned by authors.

Having a huge love of reading and being a University student studying Publishing, literally anything and everything to do with books and publishing instantly catches my attention! So when scrolling through an endless list of school emails, I came across one from a previous instructor about a great opportunity. I couldn’t help but open it.

From nostalgic memories to amazing gaming sessions with friends, video games have a special place in the hearts of many. My first gaming experience was when I was 5 years old. My parents had bought my brother the PlayStation 2, and I wanted to try my hand at playing with him.

I really enjoy getting lost in the messiness of characters and their worlds. As a child I carried books where I went. This love has transferred over to writing and now I create my own characters and storylines for others to enjoy. However, I have constantly been told English isn’t an interest which will further me in life, and that it’s impractical because I wouldn’t be able to read anything I publish due to my blindness.

It’s something that is most often done when we are children. We use our paint covered fingers and draw absentmindedly, make messy pictures for our parents, or take to the sidewalk with chalk. As we get older, art begins to rise in complexity. Colour blended seamlessly, intricate detail crafted with great care, impeccable creations that appear highly life-like and that invoke deep emotion from their audiences.