By Denise Colley
This year’s scholarship recipients are quite a varied group of students. There is a foreign newspaper correspondent, a former gymnast, a blind ice hockey player, a ballet dancer, a marching band member, and many others.
Raveena Alli is from Atlanta, Ga. She is an entering freshman at the University of Georgia, and is interested in majoring in public policy/pre-law, with a minor in social change/peace and justice studies and/or global impacts. She works part-time at the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE), a nonprofit committed to advancing policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for the growth of all in metropolitan Atlanta and the American South.
Matthew Ard is from San Jose, Calif. He is a graduate student, pursuing a Ph.D. in energy science and engineering at Stanford University.
Brandon Butzberger is from Greenacres, Fla. He is a graduate student at Palm Beach Atlantic University, pursuing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. Last fall, he began working full-time at the Florida Division of Blind Services as the Independent Living/Children’s Program Counselor.
Matthew Cho is from New York, N.Y. He is an undergraduate student at Marymount Manhattan College, pursuing a degree in psychology with a minor in social work. During the past two years, he volunteered at a community center and taught music to kids ages 3 to 4. He showed them different instruments and the basic concepts in music, like rhythm, pitch, and volume.
Arie Farnam is from La Grande, Ore. She is a graduate student at Eastern Oregon University, pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing with a minor specialization in community and landscape. From 1998-2008, she worked as a newspaper correspondent in Central Europe, the Balkans, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Ecuador, primarily for “The Prague Post,” “The Christian Science Monitor,” and “Business Week.”
Carmen (Izzi) Guzman is from Celebration, Fla. She is a graduate student at the University of Miami, pursuing a master’s degree in jazz pedagogy. This past summer, she returned to a program near and dear to her heart: Lighthouse Central Florida. She applied to be a youth services instructor, where she would assist with the children’s and teens’ programs.
Tyler Hoppe is from Mount Savage, Md. He is an undergraduate student at Penn State University Park, pursuing a degree in political science, with a minor in psychology.
Rasheedah Kenner is from Clearwater, Fla. She is a pursuing a master’s degree in social work at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis. Rasheedah lost her eyesight right before the pandemic started. But she refused to sit home idle. She enrolled through Apple Services and taught herself how to use Apple screen readers and other devices. She also took braille correspondence courses through Hadley, and purchased JAWS software and began acclimating herself on her laptop.
Brock Kitterman is from Jackson, Tenn. He is an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, pursuing a degree in computer science with a minor in business administration. Brock is a member of the university’s Astrobotics Team - Software Division, which has taught him about programming and general software principles in a team-oriented environment.
Suzette May is from Waco, Tex. She is an undergraduate student at Arizona State University, pursuing a degree in disability studies with a minor in nonprofit leadership and management. She is the owner of a business called My Write Hand VA, where she helps authors and digital content creators with websites, social, media, WordPress, Shopify, LeadPages, email list management, affiliate program management, sales funnels, and sales campaigns. She is also an Administrative Assistant/Independent Contractor with Thriving Blind Academy.
Emily Nelson is from Fishers, Ind. She is an undergraduate student at Indiana University in Bloomington, pursuing a degree in Cybersecurity and Global Policy, with a minor in Germanic Studies; Homeland Security; Intelligence Studies. In her freshman year of college, she participated in her living learning center, ballet, rock climbing, and in ACB Students activities.
Ronak Patel is from Baltimore, Md. He is a graduate student at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, pursuing a master’s degree in business administration. He currently serves as the Senior Manager of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB).
Frank Ritter is from Houston, Tex. He is a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in education leadership with principal specialization at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He has been working as a professional CTE business education teacher at The Summit, DAEP, for the Pasadena, Texas Independent School District. He is also a department chair, where he is responsible for budgets, facilitating team meetings, and instructing professional staff around the school district.
Avery Sallean is from Cary, N.C. She is an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, pursuing a degree in neuroscience, with a minor in chemistry. For the past two years, she has been a member of Carolina for the Kids. Their mission is to help patients and families at UNC Children’s Hospital by providing financial and emotional support during their hospital stay.
Michael Saravia is from Athens, Ga. He is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at the University of Georgia. During this past school year, he has been serving as a research assistant, providing support with information management and sources for cutting-edge research.
Emily Schlenker is from Wichita, Kan. She is a graduate student pursuing a Doctorate of Pharmacy at the University of Kansas in Wichita, Kan. She worked part-time from the summer of 2018 through December of 2022 as part of a newly created department at Wichita State University. She worked closely with her colleagues to create braille and tactile materials for students who are blind or visually impaired. She also assisted in making the COVID-19 testing portal used by her university and many other facilities accessible.
Bhavya Shah is from Stanford, Calif. He is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in computer science (artificial intelligence or human-computer interaction track) at Stanford University. He is currently working part-time as an oral communication tutor at the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking.
Muhammad Sohaib is from Eugene, Ore. He is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in special education, with a minor in language literacy, at the University of North Texas. From September 2023 to the present, he has worked as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at the University of Oregon.
DaMyri Stepter is from Thibodaux, La. He is an entering freshman at Nicholls State University, and is interested in pursuing a degree in finance. He mentors younger students affected by retinal diseases. He and his mother co-created the DaMyri Stepter Foundation, a charitable foundation dedicated to increasing knowledge about and finding a cure for retinitis pigmentosa.
Charli Strawn is from Glencoe, Ala. She is an entering freshman at Auburn University, and is interested in pursuing a degree in Business Information Systems Management, with a minor in psychology. Her greatest extracurricular and leadership experiences have been as part of the Glencoe High School marching band, where she served as drum major her senior year.
Devon Woodfine is from Los Angeles, Calif. He is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at California State University, Pomona. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, he will work on designing new assistive devices and software applications that allow people with physical and mental disabilities to integrate into society fully, as a Ph.D. student at the California Institute of Technology.