Blind achiever prods Filipino youth to study harder

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan — As thousands of students will graduate this month, here’s a message from a visually-impaired college graduate: don’t take your studies for granted, don’t miss the opportunity to get an education.

Twenty-one-year-old Minnie Aveline Posadas Juan of this city, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English magna cum laude from the Trinity College of Quezon City last year, is blind.

She is also the first Filipino Braille International awardee last year.

"Kung ako nga bulag nakaya ko po. Dapat mag-aral din silang mabuti (I am blind yet I made it. They should also study hard)," she told The STAR in an interview.

Juan was named the batch valedictorian as she got the highest average among the three magna cum laude graduates last year.

Now, aside from teaching, Juan is also pursuing a second degree in Education at the Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation (VMUF) and she plans to specialize later on in Special Education.

A talented singer, she is also a member of the faculty choir and "reads" the Bible during Sunday Mass in Braille.

Her mother, Dr. Ma Lilia Posadas-Juan, is the VMUF president while her father, Dr. Angelo Juan, is the vice president for administration. Both are medical doctors.

Though it is often said that education is a right, the young Juan said that with the rising cost of sending a child to school, education has become a privilege. So, students should realize the hardships of their parents.

"Others are not serious in their studies. I pity their parents," she said.

From Nursery to grade four, Juan attended a regular class with other visually-impaired classmates. From grade five to college, she was the only blind student in her class.

"It was really double effort, proper adjustment and strong determination," she said of the secret of her success.

A valedictorian from grade school to college, starting from the Virgen Milagrosa Child Learning Center to the Virgen Milagrosa Special Science High School and later Trinity College, Juan reaped more accolades when her essay entitled "Braille to a Bright Future" was chosen by the World Blind Union-Asia Pacific Onkyo Braille Essay Selection Committee.

The award given to her during the celebration of the International Louis Braille Day held last Jan. 4 at the VMUF compound was signed by Naoto Otsuki, chairman and chief executive officer of Onkyo Corp.

"We certify that you have a good command of Braille, and we are pleased that you are using this knowledge to the fullest to enhance your independence and self-confidence. We, therefore confirm you to be the proud winner of the above-mentioned prize," the citation reads.

The 3rd Onkyo Braille Essay Award Contest, was sponsored by Onkyo Corp. and The Braille Mainichi.

It was not the first time though that Juan won in a writing contest. In her recent award-winning essay, Juan narrated how useful Braille is in her life. She said that while her sighted classmates were learning to read with their eyes and to write with pencil and paper, she was learning to read with her fingertips and writing with a stylus and a slate.

She said college life was not easy either but it would have been much more difficult without Braille. She relied on her computer which is equipped with a screen reader to accomplish her written school work. She also had a scanner and text-to-speech software that enabled her to read books that were not available in Braille.

She said her secret to her academic accomplishments was the help of her teachers and the textbooks that were transcribed from print to Braille which enabled her to study her lessons ahead of time.

The examination questions were also translated into Braille and this allowed her to work independently. "Thus, by using Braille, I was able to obtain very good marks," she said in her essay.

Besides helping her to be an exceptional student, Juan said Braille literacy also opened many other doors for her. Because of Braille, she can read books on Science, History, Literature, languages and even the Holy Scriptures. "For me, reading has always been a great source of entertainment, knowledge, wisdom and inspiration," she said.

It was in a regular school where Juan was taught to read and write Braille by a special education teacher who was blind herself. Gertrudez Benigno, who was her mentor from elementary to high school, was like her second mother. They both cried when Juan was ready for college and Benigno had to go back to her hometown in Ilocos to teach other visually-impaired children.

"I want to be like her. She has a noble mission," Juan said. Right now, Juan also teaches a six-year old blind boy in their family-owned school. She said she sees herself in him.

Juan said encouragement from her family, friends and prayers helped her a lot, too.