NFB Youth Slam!

Marcus Schmid was raised in a family of three. He was the only blind ne in his family, but his parents still had the same expectations of him as his siblings, which he feels is the best thing they could have done for him as it helped him to start working on his blindness skills. Marc is now an engineering section leader in the marketing and trading organization of an electric utility company. His primary function is to project fuel and purchase power expenses for the traders.
But getting there took some time. The first step was a Bachelors Degree in science and electrical engineering at northern Arizona University. He went to work at the company directly after graduation. At first, he was doing computer programming in the engineering environment. However, after six years, he switched to the generation planning organization within the same company. He feels that his strong analytical skills and computer programming capability helped him get the job. Seven years later, he took a promotion in to marketing and trading due to the expertise he had gained and his love for tackling challenges.
When asked what made him want to pursue this career, he replied, “Well, my father is an engineer so I guess it runs in the family.” He says he always had a love for math and sciences so an engineering degree was the quickest way of getting gainful employment. Originally, he was intending to study atmospheric physics, but he had to get his PHD to get a job. However, he married young and by his junior year in college, there was a baby on the way. And, finally, Mr. Schmid says he wanted to prove to everyone, including himself, that he could be gainfully employed.
Mr. Schmidt was next asked to touch on some of the obstacles he had to overcome to be where he is now. He admits that getting his equipment was a little difficult. He did not have Vocational Rehabilitation, (VR), services, so financial aid was the first obstacle. He says that what helped him be most productive was being his own advocate when obtaining this equipment. And, finally, as a matter of personal preference, he had to find the best equipment, (speech software, scanners, Braille software, and so on.), that worked for him. On another side of things, he says he one of his other challenges was convincing people he knew what he was talking about in the sense of investments. He has also been denied some opportunities for continued professional growth because people thought learning something new would pose too many challenges. However, he says he had no real negative attitudes or opposition, and says that his ability to learn and perform has dispelled people’s misconceptions for the most part.
As previously stated, Mr. Schmidt says he never used Vocational Rehabilitation, (VR), Services, but instead occasionally used Disabled Student Services, which the campus offered. They gave him a Braille note taker, orientation to the campus, and helped him find readers. What he liked most about those services was that they only jumped in when he needed him, which, he believes, most helpful because it showed him how important it was to be his own advocate. He feels that he wouldn’t go to a training center and that the help he received was enough, as he went to a school for the blind and was therefore pretty proficient in his blindness skills.
As Marc Schmidt is almost totally blind, blindness skills were a pretty important thing to have, especially in his profession. When asked about the techniques and skills that were the most important, his biggest emphasis was Braille literacy, which should be everyone’s first priority to learn. To be proficient in reading and writing Braille is to be independent and competent in your jot. A close second to Braille literacy is proficient mobility skills. He says, “You need mobility skills so you can get around and talk to your customers and experts in the field without depending on others.”
The biggest piece of advice Mr. Schmidt could offer blind students wanting to pursue an engineering career was to not be afraid to stray from their comfort zone. It would also be advisable to take as many math and science courses as possible while in high school. Another helpful hint is to ever sell yourself short, and to be creative in figuring out how to solve your problems, as, “you’ll need it. You may be the only blind student wherever you are.” Being proficient at blindness skills is huge, and he advises students to be pretty proficient at them before going to college. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this question is that, although Mr. Schmidt never went to an NFB training center himself, he strongly recommends that students go to one before entering college.
Though engineering runs in Mr. Schmidt’s family, none of his four children ended up being engineers. Mr. Schmidt married a sighted lady while in college. They now have four children together, ranging in age from nineteen to twenty-five. And, though none of them are engineers, all of them inherited their father’s love of music.
Mr. Schmidt has a wide variety of interests besides his love of sciences. For instance, he is a lover of music and thus, is a musician. He enjoys the outdoors and any recreation that can come as a result of being outside such as swimming, hiking, and jogging. But, what gives him a sense of pride and happiness is improving the lives of other blind people.
Overall, Mr. Schmidt says he is very pleased with the twenty-four years he’s been in the company. He is now in line for management and feels that he is well-respected among the other employees. And, he is thrilled to say that the people around him do not make a big issue about his blindness. Although I do not personally enjoy the concepts of math, science, or any combination of the two, Mr. Schmidt made me see that it is possible for me to pursue a career in that field. He made the topic interesting and fun. The way he spoke about his job made it seem as if everything were a new concept or idea to explore and that, above else, is the energy that’s needed for any job.