Do you remember your first time when you competed in the Braille Challenge?

[Braille Alumni Connects Students]

Hey Alumni,

It's here again...in a couple weeks another round of finalists will be
announced! But going back, what was it like for you when you first
competed in the Braille Challenge?

[Amber Attaway]

Finals? Or preliminaries? I remember both. At preliminaries, I met a
lot of new people because I took a 3 hour trip up to the school for
the blind in my area. They were the only ones hosting, and it was the
first time I'd ever heard of such a thing. The year was 2006. I had so
many stories to tell when I got back about the people I met, the
contests, and everything. I was super surprised to find out that I
made it to finals that year. I was in the Sophomore category, and it
would be the first time I'd traveled more than 600 miles, and the
first time I'd flown on a plane for almost 10 years. The whole trip
was an adventure, and it was amazing. We missed one of our flights,
and we stayed in a really ghetto hotel, it was really cool though. We
got to hang out at DFW for hours. Then when we got there it felt like
we were royalty. It was the first time I had ever stayed in a hotel
that nice. But the most amazing thing of all was that I got to meet
blind people who were compitent, had good social skills, were smart,
and were fun to be around! We sat around the coffee table in the
hotel lobby telling jokes until 1 in the morning, and then I talked to
the piano player and someone else, I think she was a bar tender. The
people were just amazing. That summer, my mom and stepdad were getting
a divorce, and I can honestly say that the Braille Challenge was my
escape from all the drama. I met people that made me feel good about
myself, that treeted me like a person from Earth instead of Mars, and
I was encouraged. It was a refresher and I look forward to it every
single year. I hope I made it to the finals again this year. If I do,
it'll be my 4th time. I don' care about winning or placing. Just the
social aspect and the California atmosphere is totally worth the time
and money. Every year we have had bake sales, fund raisers, and all
kinds of stuff to prepare for the Braille Challenge. Lots of generous
people have donated to the cause and every single time it was worth
it.

[Caitlin Hernandez]

I agree with Amber. The challenges were always such fun. Also like
Amber, I never really cared about winning; I just loved being there
and interacting with other kids who loved to read Braille, and geek
out about Braille notetakers, web sites, accessible phones, and all
that good stuff. For me, it was also special talking to the younger
kids, hearing what school was like for them. So many things are
different nowadays--different for the better--with the emerging
assistive technology and BookShare...But, of course, a lot of the
parents and younger participants had lots of questions and concerns,
and it always made me happy to pass on what advice I could. I still
remember the names of the kids I met at the first-ever challenge in
1999. Sadly, I've lost touch with most of them, since e-mail and
texting weren't a big thing back then...but I still hear from a few of
the others occasionally. I wish I'd never gotten too old for the
Braille Challenge! But I'm always happy when I'm able to come back as
an alum to help out and meet all the new competitors.
\Good luck to everyone this year!