Do You Dream in Color? by Laurie Rubin

Author:Laurie Rubin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: blind, autobiography, young adult, art, gay, opera, mezzo soprano, poetry, do you dream in color?, international, color, book, Seven Stories Press, dreaming, performance, laurie rubin, memoir, Biography
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2012-10-23T04:00:00+00:00

A Window Opens

I was not the only blind student at the Oberlin Conservatory. I met Josh Pierce, a composer in his junior year, at orientation. Every student and every teacher had been telling me that I should meet Josh. Even before I met him in the resource office for people with disabilities, I knew that I would have some pretty big shoes to fill. To everyone else at Oberlin who knew him, Josh was the epitome of what the ideal blind student should be, dripping with musical talent, almost smarter than all his professors, exuding an air of reverent confidence that made people feel as though he were experiencing the world on a deeper, darker plane than they were.

“Josh is God!” other admiring composers would tell me.

I had been called into the disabilities office to be told about what resources were available to me, and Josh had been asked to meet me there and tell me about his three years experience going through the conservatory as a blind student. As exciting as being a pioneer can be, it was so nice to have that tiresome role removed from my shoulders once Oakwood had ended. Now, someone else who had been blind at a school before me could guide me, be my mentor, and alleviate my concerns.

“So you’re a voice major, right?” Josh asked.

“Yes, I am.”

He chuckled. “Ah, opera singers, a fun but dramatic bunch of people. So tell me, how did you take tests and do your schoolwork before coming here?”

“Braille books, books on tape, tests on floppy disks, you name it,” I said. “My laptop has become my best friend.”

“Don’t I know it,” Josh smiled. “Well, I can tell you that readers have made my life at Oberlin a lot easier.”

“Readers? What do you mean?”

“Fellow students who are in our classes with us who basically get paid to do the reading they’re assigned to do in the first place, as long as they read it out loud to us. The disabilities office will cover the cost, and sometimes it’s the quickest way of getting anything done. Professors can be a bit flaky about getting handouts to the office here to be brailled or put in some other format for us in advance.”

“How are professors about the whole blindness thing?” I asked.

“Depends on the person,” Josh said. “Some of them are great and are very responsive when I tell them what works best for me. Others are not open-minded at all and won’t change a thing about the way they explain things when they teach. One professor, who I think you’re having this year for music history, always acted like test-taking would be this huge stumbling block. Even when I explained to him that there were multiple ways I could accomplish this, he just seemed completely overwhelmed. I apologize in advance if I haven’t helped make things easier for you after taking that class.”

“You’re forgiven.”

“This office is getting stuffy. Would you like to grab lunch in the cafeteria to continue this conversation?”

Josh walked even faster than any sighted person I knew.

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