2023 Student Essay Winner Muntaha Ruthba

Support Plus Self-Confidence Is an Equation for Success

I am a blind Bengali-American woman who moved to the United States from Bangladesh in 2014. If you had told me then that I would be accepted to the University of Texas, I would not have believed you. Back then, the only feelings I had toward education were feelings of failure, frustration, and humiliation. Earning my GED felt impossible. It took finding the right support and rekindling my self-confidence to make success a reality.

Growing up in Bangladesh, people did not understand my visual impairment. They did not understand how to teach me. I had no concept of a successful future. Arriving in the US, I knew I needed to change the trajectory of my life. In Austin, while doing blindness training at the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center, I enrolled in a math class at Austin Community College to prepare for the GED. I had no idea how I would manage equations and fractions – they scared me. Then I met Monica.

Monica Segura is an Accessibility Assistant in ACC’s Student Accessibility Services. She accompanied me to every GED-prep math class, and while the instructor presented new concepts, she transformed them into a non-visual language. I was doing math non-visually for the first time! And it was empowering. Before we met, schoolwork was punishment. I preferred to sit with older family members and listen to their stories, asking questions while they described the world. Monica figured this out and used stories and metaphors to communicate mathematical ideas. She introduced me to manipulatives to solve equations and conceptualize fractions. Moving the little cubes around settled my mind. She made the space safe and calm – and my learning anxieties dissipated.

Fortunately, Monica was assigned to my other GED prep classes. After class, we would chat while I waited for the bus. When I doubted myself, she reminded me of how far I had come. She introduced me to other students, professors, and staff members who offered support and encouragement. They celebrated when I told them I had passed my GED – none more enthusiastically than Monica. Monica supported me in college math and statistics classes and helped me access more than equations and z-scores. She listened and helped me navigate through my fears. Whenever a problem came up that I did not think could be solved, her response was always, “Let’s figure it out.”

Since I met Monica, I’ve figured out a lot. I have earned my GED and my associate’s degree. I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa and earned a National Federation of the Blind scholarship which she pushed me to apply for. I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at U.T. and then further my education. I will work towards my goal of providing tools and training to remove physical and mental barriers for families of children with disabilities to ensure that their fundamental needs are met. I hope to be the same kind of learning ally for others as Monica has been for me.