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Have you ever felt powerless, drowned in self-doubt when life threw you a seemingly insurmountable challenge? Curtis Lin, whose vision deteriorated rapidly at 15 years old, would be classic example in the eyes of many. However, the strong-willed young adult chooses to embrace the change and show the world how one can live life to the fullest as a visually-impaired person. From July to August, Curtis worked as a summer intern at Link’s Human Resources Department to pursue self-worth in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and explore the various possibilities as a visually impaired person.
Why should people with disabilities benchmark themselves against the “normal” so to feel worthy? What does one gain by attaining the norm in the first place? These are questions that come to Curtis’ mind when witnessing that the society nowadays inadvertently portrays the lives of people with disabilities under a filter, one that only highlights how they overcome tremendous obstacles to live a “normal” life, instead of encouraging them to explore the many other ways of living.
“People are born different, and so should they live differently, regardless of how abled they are. Trying to live like everybody else dismisses one’s uniqueness and denies paths towards enhancing one’s self-value.” Curtis said.
How does one discover self-value then? According to Curtis, the first step is to fully accept and embrace who you are. “I admit to myself and others that there are things that I simply am not able to do due to my physical limitations, like making PowerPoints and animations. And that is why I should invest my time and energy on things that I am good at, like word processing and logical thinking. That is how I can excel in life.”
“Pepper, wanna to learn how to do PowerPoints?” A colleague teased as he walked past Curtis’ desk. Pepper is Curtis’ guide dog / partner-companion. Fun fact, Pepper is one of the first-generation guide dogs home-grown under a programme sponsored by Link Together Initiatives. Needless to say, her return has liven up the office not by just a bit!
To get a better understanding of what it is like to work in real life settings, Curtis joined Link’s summer internship programme. “I was overjoyed when I received Link’s offer to work at the Human Resources Department. At the same time, the new environment and the new role also worried me. To my surprise, my colleagues made exhaustive preparations even before my onboarding date. For example, they planned the best commuting route for me. We even made a call beforehand and talked about my work expectations so to tailor work arrangements accordingly.” All the preparations contributed to a smooth and fruitful work experience for Curtis. Even more so, there was a full-time colleague at Link who is also visually impaired. She shared with Curtis how she navigates work and life to unlock infinite possibilities.
Encouraged by the friendly and selfless work culture at Link, Curtis wanted to take the chance to open up and share more truths surrounding the visually impaired community to the public, hoping to create a more harmonious and understanding society.
Whenever dog owners talk about their “furry kids”, they always put a smile to their face without even noticing it. But for Curtis and Pepper, they are so tightly knitted together that they have become each other’s life companion. Their relationship is built on an equal and reciprocal basis. “Pepper and I work together as a team. While Pepper is busy guiding the way, I will also keep my ears open and listen to the traffic lights. She is committed to ensuring my safety on the streets, and I am devoted to taking care of her and making sure she is disciplined. There’s one time I did not allow Pepper to sniff around the streets, and some passers-by saw it and accused me of mistreating my dog. In reality, I was just worried that she might mistakenly eat poisonous food off the ground. She is quite a foodie.”
Curtis will soon graduate with a degree in Government and Public Administration at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. “My interest falls into social issues like disability inclusion, poverty and sustainability. I would love to work in NGOs after I graduate so I can use what I have learned to contribute to building a diverse and inclusive society.”
It takes years to achieve a tiny milestone in the process of policy reformation, yet all things are difficult before they are easy. Curtis, the master of acceptance and resistance, ended the interview with a positive note: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
