A 25-year-old lady shines throughout the world after becoming the first blind and deaf person to graduate from a US institution.
The first blind and deaf person to graduate from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States is Haben Girma, a 25-year-old.
Despite being both blind and deaf, Haben Girma, who is now a worldwide celebrity for accomplishing her extraordinary feat, earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard Law School in 2013.
An unidentified degenerative disease that started in early childhood caused Girma to lose her hearing and vision; she now only has 1% of her sight left. She benefited from civil rights regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, throughout her early years in the United States.
Read on:
- Federal Government National Health Fellows Program 2025 For Nigerians | How To Apply
- A bright Nigerian woman obtains a master’s degree in computer science and a full scholarship to Stanford University in the United States.
- A bright 10-year-old child wins a $5,000 cash prize after defeating 782,852 other entrants in a global art contest.
She was also equipped with accessible technology, including a digital Braille reader. At the age of 17, she received her diploma from Skyline High School in the United States.
According to Habren memoirs where she explained how she had to learn how to navigate in a world created for those who see and hear, she considers disability as a chance for invention.
She clarified that she acquired non-visual skills for anything from using an electric saw to dancing salsa. She clarified that Arianne, her hearing interpreter, enters what people say and do into a specialized computer, which then wirelessly transmits the data to a Braille computer that Girma is holding.
She reacts by speaking after reading the dots with her fingers. “My parents came to the United States in search of opportunities and discovered that freedom is not created by geography but rather by people and communities,” Girma remarked.
Girma discussed her achievements at Harvard Law School and said she had not intended to apply because she believed it would be “snobbish.” However, an advisor cautioned her that “a lot of non-disabled law graduates are struggling to get a job,” so she should apply to prestigious universities instead.
She went on to say that neither she nor Harvard had any idea how a deafblind person might graduate from the university at the time.
But Girma broke the curse and earned her degree with honors. She currently concentrates on advocacy work, although she has also been involved in a number of cases on behalf of individuals with disabilities.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Bill Clinton, and President Obama have all recognized Girma’s achievements and designated her a White House Champion of Change in 2015.
In addition, she was listed on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and awarded the Helen Keller Achievement Award.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Do you have a story? You can write an email to scholarshipregion@gmail.com to share your remarkable tale with us.
