GANESH Singh chose not to “waste” any sleep time studying for his exams, but Oddessa Blair, who graduated with him at the University of Guyana (UG) last week would stay up as

late as 04:00 h to get her studying done. Although their methods differed, the two are proud of their achievements.

“I was really impressed with myself,” says Oddessa in an interview with Chronicle at the Guyana Society for the Blind on High Street, adding, “I made a great effort and it paid off.”

Ganesh, who completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and graduated with a distinction, did not attend the UG ceremony with Oddessa because he felt a bit disappointed that he was unable to immediately afterwards pursue his Master’s Degree.

“I feel accomplished to an extent because acquiring my degree was always a goal of my mine and to finally get it, I am somewhat satisfied. But I am a far away from where I want to be regarding my academic pursuits and hopefully, within the next few years, I can get to where I want to be.”

Two days before
During his high school days, Ganesh wanted to become an accountant but at age 17 when he became blind, he shifted his attention to social work. “The fields of social work and education are now my passion, and the interesting thing is that my teaching is related to my social work; both tie in well.

Ganesh always had a desire to obtain tertiary education qualifications. “I don’t wanna be stagnant at one level so I am hoping to move forward. I’m heading in to my Master’s and if the road leads me, to a PhD; that is my overarching aim. I have a knack for always getting what I want, but not necessarily when I want it. Once I put my mind to something, I always get it, just not always within the timeframe that I outline for myself,” he expressed.

A government scholarship helped Ganesh to obtain his Bachelor’s Degree and to move ahead. Ganesh can foresee that finances will pose a challenge. “It is very costly for a Masters and a PhD, so if I am afforded a scholarship to pursue both, I would very much appreciate it.”

Explaining his study methods, Ganesh said: “I never wasted sleep on studying. If I want to sleep, I go to sleep. I think the latest I ever stayed up studying for UG was 11 pm. Those who know me – assignments, exams never were a bother to me. I study for an exam two days before. I would remove myself from most of my work and I’ll dedicate myself to studying during the day.”

Oddessa, though, who was the first person from the Blind Society to graduate at a tertiary level, said she would usually stay up late at nights studying for her exams. “At times, I stayed up until 4 am to study. I studied with friends on Skype and at other times when they were unavailable, I had to do it alone. But when I was alone I got bored and sleepy.”

Oddessa, a mother of two who had also received a government scholarship, recalled some of the challenges she faced, in addition to having to travel from the West Coast Demerara each day.

“Reading with JAWS is challenging. You have to listen, interpret and then ensure it sticks. Sometimes I had to go it over and over to make that happen. Life was real hectic coming closer to the exams. To fit everything into my schedule was not easy.”

Motivated
Oddessa was the only blind person who was present at the UG graduation, but this did not diminish her confidence even for a bit. She will never forget the crowd’s response as her name was called and she made her way to the stage.

“While I was on my way to the stage, the crowd was just shouting my name, even those who did not know me. I felt really motivated with this response and think that motivated me to do even better with my Bachelor’s Degree.”

Both Ganesh and Oddessa took the same exams as everyone else at UG, only electronically.

“We would have our handouts scanned and then converted and some lecturers would provide the information electronically. As for the exams, the lecturer just brought a copy of the exams electronically and we would put it on a system that we would take for their verification and then we would do our exams,” explained Ganesh.

He added: “I never used a scribe at UG because the people there have a lot of very interesting ways that they deal with persons with disabilities on campus. Nothing is organized. They don’t have a disability policy; everything is done in an ad-hoc way.

“The lecturers in the social sciences department have been very, very supportive. Without their assistance and support, I don’t think I would have gotten the opportunity to graduate.”