Full Transcript
Jeff:
Welcome everybody—we’ve got a great guest today from New York City, talking about the challenges that transition-age students have while facing career decisions, education, and entry into the workforce. Jon is the author of an upcoming book, See Us, which highlights the process, the journey, of students entering internships, entering the workforce through the Career Discovery Project. Jon talks about how the Career Discovery Project enables students to enhance their opportunities, to gain experience, and educate them on the workplace through experience. This is all great information, whether you’re a teacher of the blind and visually impaired, an employment-services specialist, a parent of a transition-age student, or a transition age-student opening the doors to possibilities. Be sure to keep in touch with Jon Marin, as his book See Us will be coming out within the next month or two. We hope you enjoy.
Jon Marin:
This is your interview, and you have to get your foot in the door, so knock out this interview and the internship will be yours.
Jeff:
Tell us about a mock interview.
Please welcome Jon Marin, program director at Career Discovery Project, and author of the upcoming book, See Us.
Jon:
By the time they graduate, they’re marketable, their resumes are stacked, and most importantly, now they have an idea of what type of career they might want to do.
Jeff:
Working with transition age students through employment to enhance their opportunities in the workplace, education, and careers.
Jon:
My publisher told me, the great thing about this book is that it’s not just blind people in New York City—they’re all over the world, and a lot of people want to see who these guys are, what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it, so these are really, like, some exciting times, and I really hope this book does have an impact on people and it touches some of them.
Jeff:
Now, please welcome author and program director at Career Discovery Project, Jon Marin.
Jon:
I’ll tell you a little bit more about possibilities—this spring semester, as you know, especially in New York, the pandemic hit us hard, everyone shut down, so obviously the students couldn’t work onsite. So what I had to do was readapt a little bit, and get all of my students that were for the semester, I got them all remote work. I have 10 students right now, all working from home.
Jeff:
Welcome to Blind Abilities—I’m Jeff Thompson. Today in the studio, we have Jon Marin. Jon, I want to thank you for taking the time and coming onto Blind Abilities and sharing a little bit about the Career Discovery Project. How’re you doing?
Jon:
I’m doing great, thank you for having me, this is a real pleasure.
Jeff:
I first started hearing word about you through the See Us project, and it got my attention—six students that you took this journey with and you captured it through a photobook type of format, and, you know, it really seemed something, but the most important thing is, you’re working with students, high school students, as they approach transitioning into college and the workplace, to gain experience in the workforce and to build their confidence, so I want to commend you for what you’re doing for hundreds of students.
Jon:
Yes, absolutely—I never thought I would be doing this, this wasn’t my career goal, but this kind of fell in my lap, so to speak, I took the ball and I ran with it, and I really enjoy what I’m doing.
Jeff:
Well, you’ve won some good awards for this, you’re part of the 40 40 club out there in New York, aren’t you?
Jon:
That is correct, I got the 40 under 40 Rising Stars in a Nonprofit Sector award. That was a big deal—I think once I got nominated for that award, and I was an honoree, that’s when I really got the idea that yeah, this program is really- people recognize it. And I still don’t know who the heck nominated me, so that’s always going to be a mystery, but I’m glad somebody did, and I got honored, and I really enjoyed it.
Jeff:
That’s one of the trappings, when you start building awareness about the possibilities that these students can do.
Jon:
Absolutely. I used to job coach, and I always had good networks within agencies like Commission for the Blind, and working with teachers for the visually impaired, so over the last 10 years that I’ve been working with the blind and visually impaired, I’ve gotten ingrained in the community really well, so I’ve made a lot of networks, as lot of good connections. I use that to my advantage, to advance the Career Discovery Project from what it was when I first took over.
Jeff:
You may have an assistant, but this is mostly one-on-one with the students, and you learn about the students, you meet them, you learn their strengths, and then there’s over 30 partners out there that you go find a good fit for them—tell us about that.
Jon:
Right, so, the program started in 2013, and had about- maybe even 2012 if I remember correctly, I took over in 2014. So for those two years, they had about, like, five or six students a year participating in the program, it was that small. When I took over in 2014, I started doing about eight to ten students a semester, so that’s the fall, spring, and summer, because this is a year-round internship program thanks to our grant. Since, you know, the program’s year-round, I have to constantly keep it running, I’m always at schools talking with students, talking with teachers, I’m getting calls from guidance counselors bringing students to my attention. The students themselves, they share my contact information with their friends and I’ll get random calls or text messages saying, “Hello Mr. Marin, I heard you could get me a job,” I’m like “Okay, who are you?” So that’s kind of what’s keeping me really involved with the students because I’m so accessible to them as well, you know, they’re not calling an office, they need to talk, they’re calling me directly, they’re calling my phone, they’re texting me, they’re emailing me, you know, they’re not calling some secretary at some big organization, you know, they have to wait to get in contact with- no, they can call me, you know, within the next hour, I’m always talking to them and keeping it going.
Jeff:
When you say you get them a job, basically you’re getting them connected for an opportunity but they earn their internship.
Jon:
That is correct. So when I tell them I found a worksite that’s interested in them, or if I find a particular worksite that they’re interested in, and I get that site interested in wanting to meet the student, I let them know “Look, I got you an interview with this place let’s prep you, let’s get you ready, because you’re going to interview, you have to ace it. If you don’t ace it, you’re not going to get the internship—you know, not a total loss, we’ll try again, we’ll try somewhere else, but this is your interview, and you have to get your foot in the door, so knock out this interview and the internship will be yours.
Jeff:
Tell us about a mock interview. Some people may never have interviewed before in their life.
Jon:
Yes, that is especially what, unfortunately, is very common with young adults that are blind and visually impaired, and, you know, they’re in high school and they’re of working age, so we go through the basics first—how to dress, the men, the boys, you know- depending on the job, because obviously, you know, not every interview requires a nice suit and tie. Things are a little different now, especially with some of the sites I send my students off to, but I make sure they’re dressing appropriately, the handshaking—keeping the head up, and at least looking in the direction where they hear the interviewer’s voice, or if they have some vision they should be looking at the interviewer straight on, listening carefully to the questions, keeping their answers short and simple. Sometimes I have to, you know, let them know that they have to speak a little bit louder. Some of them have to speak a little bit lower, and since I’m, you know, always with these students and I get to spend time with them at their schools, I’m very fortunate that the schools allow me to do that. I’ll get some time with them alone in a classroom to prep them, or I’ll do it over the phone at home, so they’ll get some good time with me. That allows me to really give them all the preparation that they need.
Jeff:
Some listeners may not know what an internship is totally all about. This is like 10 hours a week for them, and like you said, it can run a full year.
Jon:
That’s correct—so, the students can work no more than 10 hours per week, they’re paid the minimum wage by the hour, they get paid biweekly, which is great, so if they have bank accounts, the money goes straight into account, which is good for them, they start learning, you know, how it is to get paid and budget your money. It’s year round, so we’ll have a fall semester, a spring semester, and a summer semester. A student does not have to work every single semester, it depends on if they want to do it, if they have other commitments, but the door is always open. So, Jeff, you could work the fall and spring semester, and maybe you take the summer off, and then you come back next fall because maybe you’re going on vacation for the summer. So the door is open, they come in, and if I have a slot for them—they have like a 10 or 11 student rule during the fall and spring semester—if I have space and I can find them a site, you know, I’ll try to get them an interview.
Jeff:
What an opportunity to gain the experience, to start building on their resume, which they’ll need in the future.
Jon:
Yeah, you should see some of these resumes that I have. I’m actually a little bit jealous, especially with some of my college students, I’m like “Man, your resumes are already more impressive than mine,” you know, and it’s all because of the worksites that they’ve had under me. By the time they get to college they’ve probably had two, three, maybe even four internships, right? So, once they enter college they probably have more experience than most of their freshman classmates.
Jeff:
Mm-hm.
Jon:
And that’s not unrealistic to say, so at least they get in there with a nice advantage.
Jeff:
Oh yeah. I’ve always said that experience- I don’t know where this came from, but is one of the best teachers. Experience is one of the best teachers, and to have that already, especially in your first, second year of college when you’re starting to point your compass at your goal that you want to do—that’s really great that they get to carry that with them, have that experience, so that they get to self-determine their own goals.
Jon:
Right, and by the time they graduate they’re marketable, their resumes are stacked, and most importantly, now they have an idea of what type of career they might want to do. If you remember when I said earlier, I try to match them up with an internship that matches their interest or career goals, or if they’re already in college one that matches their college major. But sometimes they’re- especially the younger students, they’re not sure what they want to do yet, so I question them a little bit, what do you like to do, what are your hobbies, things like that, and from there I try to find, you know, simple worksites where they might find them interesting, and I have them at least try it out for a semester, and if they like working there, good, now we’re getting somewhere. If they don’t like it, that’s fine, now I know for next time and the next semester we can try something else, we’ll try something different.
Jeff:
Obviously you have a passion to see the students succeed—what’s it like when you find someone that has drive and all of a sudden they take off with it, you find them that spot and they go with it, and they graduate and you’re like “Wow, they did it.”
Jon:
It’s- oh, man, it’s like a song in my heart. It’s just a great feeling. I had one girl who got accepted to NYU, and she texted me, and she said, “It’s because of working in your program I got this far,” and that just meant the world to me.
Jeff:
Aw.
Jon:
I had two other students—they kind of disappeared after my program because they ended up finding work on their own, you know they didn’t need me anymore, and I was totally okay with that, that means I did what I had to do. It was funny, because one of them I ended up bumping into her on the 7 train, I was actually visiting another school, and it was the afternoon, I’m on my way home, and she was on the platform. And she was like “Yeah, I’m working here, I’m doing this,” and I was like “Yeah, that’s great,” you know, because when she was in high school I had her interning at the Intrepid, then she ended up interning at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, so, you know, she did what I love for them to do, which is eventually just go out on their own, say they don’t need me anymore, and do their own interviews.
Jeff:
Make Jon useless.
Jon:
Exactly! Push me to the side and move on.
Jeff:
You can teach students the tools to use, but when they pick up the tools themselves, then they’re teaching themselves, you know, that’s- well, that shows that you’re a good teacher, Jon.
Jon:
I’ll tell you a funny story. I had two students, both were named- well, they still are, both are named Michael, and a couple years ago they were interning at a very exciting place called Rocking the Boat, it’s in the south Bronx, and it’s a boat building program, they actually make boats that they’re able to sail along the Bronx river, these are like real boats, right. So they were pretty much- they were close to being totally blind, they really didn’t have much vision, but they were still over there working with power tools, they had a job coach, you know, they were building these boats, but what happened was after a couple of weeks- since they really loved what they were doing, and as you know, when you love something that you’re doing you’re going to make more of an effort, so-
Jeff:
Mm-hm.
Jon:
-they’re doing a great job, they’re very happy over there, and I end up getting a phone call from one of the staff members at Rocking the Boat. She’s like “You know, Michaels are doing so good, but they’re not allowing us to help them, they don’t want our help.” And I’m like “Oh, well, uh, you know, can you tell me a little bit more?” and she’s like “Yeah, we’re trying to help them with the tools, and so on, but they don’t want our help and they just want to work alone.” And she admitted that they were doing really well, working alone, but they were still nervous because, you know, they don’t have much vision, and they were messing with these power tools, but they were, you know, blowing everyone away because they were doing such a great job. And, end of the story, they ended up getting hired as apprentices.
Jeff:
Oh, wow. Good for them.
Jon:
And they’re in college now, I think they should be graduating soon, so, yeah, good for them.
Jeff:
So you’re saying everyone should change their name to Michael.
Jon:
That might, yeah, that might work. I might change mine.
Jeff:
This is just one of the stories that- you have a hundred stories like this, but there’s six students that you put together in a photo-type format book called See Us, and that’s S-E-E U-S.
Jon:
That’s correct. These students—I didn’t do some, like, American Idol search or anything like that. These six students, they were already in my program, and the whole point of- for my book was to document these students—not just, you know, them at work, but how they’re balancing their lives between, you know, work, home and school. You know, people forget, you know, they didn’t realize, yeah, they’re going to work, but then they’re getting home 6, 7, 8:00, now they have to do homework, and then go to sleep, and get ready for the next day, and so on. So, you know, for regular people that’s, you know, that can be a lot, so imagine these kids. They already have things- unfortunately they’re a little bit more difficult for them because of their vision, but look how they’re handling it. They’re tough, they’re toughing it out, they’re fighting, they’re very goal-oriented, they don’t quit. I wanted to share that with everybody, because I can talk about my program all day, and people can say “Oh, it’s so great, it’s so great,” and it’s not just a program, I want to show them the students that are in the program, it’s great because of the students that I’m working with, they’re great, and they’re making the program great. If these students weren’t making the effort to accomplish their goals, then the program fails. So it’s not just a program, it’s the students that are in the program and how they’re doing it. So I really wanted to show that off, and I thought the best way to do it would be through a photography book, take pictures of them, show them at work or at home, or at school, and have their personal thoughts accompany the photographs, so we also get an idea of what they were thinking, how they feel about this and that. That way the reader really gets a good idea of who they are, so they’re not just looking at pictures, they’re actually getting into these students’ minds as well, and for a lot of people, this could be a whole new world for them, and I’ll tell you why.
I have a friend, and it was about a year ago, she said “Hey, Jon, I know you work with high school students that can’t see,” these are her words, and she goes “I saw one on the train, on the subway, and he was with a cane. I didn’t know they could take the subway!” And I’m like “You see, this is why I’m doing my book, because of what you just told me. You don’t know that these guys can do pretty much anything anybody else can do.” People have to see that, they have- I want to change this stigma, or enlighten people a little bit more about these students, and what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it, and that they can do it.
Jeff:
Not only for the book readers, but for the companies, the partners that you work with, because those students are there 10 hours a week for up to a year, or they come back, and their impact on the company and the people they see every day going to work as a routine thing, the bus driver, the people on the bus, people on the subway, that whole journey, it’s not just the people at work, it’s going to and fro, the family, everything, your program that they’re going through is actually impacting so many people, more than you can even put a number to.
Jon:
Right, and sometimes, like, I have to calm down some of the parents, I have to put them at ease, because- and I can say this from experience, because I’ve been doing this a very long time, a lot of their parents like to shelter their children, and they like to keep them home, and these children, most of them, they don’t want to stay home. They want to go out, they want to hang out on the weekends, they want to actually go to work after school and feel like an adult, so sometimes I have to, you know, put the parents at ease and say “Look, she’s going to work here, this is how she’s going to get to work after school, I’m teaching her the route, you have my number, you have all my information.” I make sure I’m very accessible to the parent, I make sure the parent knows that their child knows how to get to work, and I tell them “Look, if you can let her go to school by herself you can let her go to work by herself, especially if the worksite is not that much further away from the school.” But once I put them at ease, the parents end up loving it, and they’re like “Wow, my child’s working, he or she is making money, I didn’t know they could do this!”
But that’s some parents, other parents they’re begging me to get their kid out of the house and to get them some work, so I kind of deal with both of them. And as far as the worksites go, just in case- if anyone is misunderstanding, they can work at a number of different sites, so they don’t have to stay at the same place every semester. Sometimes they do, when everything is going well and if the supervisor likes them and the student likes where they’re working and they want to do another semester or two, leave well enough alone. Sometimes, the student wants to go work and try something else, which I like as well because you see more of a variety on their resume, but I make sure that after they leave each worksite, the first thing they have to do is update that resume.
Jeff:
I think the biggest thing you’re doing, I mean not just for the individuals here that are getting this opportunity to build their confidence and use the skills that they do have, it’s the awareness that you’re bringing around New York, around the- from the parents to the companies, and instilling that confidence in, you know, they call back and said “If it wasn’t for you.” But you know, those students have drive too, and you’re just helping them to steer that wheel a little bit, and let them- I’m trying not to take it away from you or give it to them, but you’re part of the catalyst that is actually making it all work, and I think it’s a great thing what you’re doing, and when I started reading this and you’re capturing that story so other people can share it and read it, that’s what we need out there more because there’s a lot of states out there, a lot of people out there that they reach that point where the parents, you know, throw their hands up in the air too, because not everyone gets the services that they need or they’re not even aware that there’s possibilities, so you’re bringing possibilities into so many hearts and minds out there, so great job, Jon.
Jon:
I appreciate it.
Jeff:
Jon, this year, 2020, has really changed everything. Tell me how it’s going now.
Jon:
I’ll tell you a little more about possibilities. This spring semester—as you know, especially in New York, the pandemic hit us hard, everyone shut down, so my spring semester was totally wiped out, I didn’t get any students to work. So obviously the students couldn’t work onsite. So what I had to do was readapt a little bit, and get all of my students that were for the semester, I got them all remote work. I have 10 students right now, all working from home, without having to go onsite. They’re working from home, they’re doing a great job, very interesting projects and assignments that are going to look really good on their resume. They are getting a crash course in remote work, most of them never did this before, although some of my students, mainly those that are not sighted, they were usually working from home anyways, and my sighted students would usually work onsite. It all depends on the site and assignments and what they want, but that’s usually how it ended up working out, but now at least for the summer, up until- I’ve got about two weeks left of the semester, I have 10 students right now all working from home, I was glad I was able to salvage the semester, I have a really great group this year, and they’re doing some incredible work right now. And it’s a big deal, because the New York Summer Youth Employment Program was completely cancelled. So you’ve got a bunch of teenagers out there that are not working right now, and I’m just glad that at least, you know, it’s just 10, but 10’s better than zero. And I was always ahead of the game with this, because I was always doing remote work from the beginning, so, you know, the summer was coming around and the other agencies had to scramble, they tried to find some work programs for the students, they couldn’t. So, right now in New York I’m the only one with a functional program right now that actually has these students working, and I’m very proud of that, mainly for them, because if I wasn’t there they really wouldn’t be doing anything this summer, it would have been a total waste, so I’m really glad that did not happen.
Jeff:
And they’re picking up skills that a lot of people across the United States and the world are doing the same thing, like who thought Zoom would be that important, who thought being able to connect up with people and conduct business from home would be so important, and it’s- typically, someone that’s visually impaired is used to being home, is used to being on the internet, so when this came along you said “I got this.”
Jon:
Yeah, and you know, it is a fun fact, I work from home. I’ve been working from home for six years. So I know a lot of your viewers are probably not from New York, so the way it works is New York City has five boroughs, and of course my office is in the most southern borough, the furthest away from my borough. So basically it takes me about two and a half hours to travel to my office when I do have to visit-
Jeff:
Oof.
Jon:
-right, and it’s a subway ride, then a ferry, and that ferry’s a half hour ride itself, and then once I get to the borough of Staten Island, then I have to take a bus, okay, so that’s about like two hours forty minutes, if there’s no delays on public transit, so anyway, my supervisor-
Jeff:
Wow.
Jon:
-was like “Just work from home.” You know, it makes more sense that way, I have to be mobile, I have to fit the schools in the other four boroughs anyway, I always have to go visit a jobsite at, you know, weird times, could be 4, could be 6:00 depending what time they want me to, you know, go down there for a meeting or sometimes I like to pop up on my students, make sure they’re there, make sure they’re working, so it almost wouldn’t make any sense at all to work from the office, none, so I’ve been working from home, and I was able to give my students a little, you know, some insight, tips on how to handle certain things, and yeah, they got the crash course. They like it, I think my main concern was just making sure they had the proper technology to even do the work, so I found they had their laptops or iPads and computers, if they had that and they were connected to the internet then they should be fine, if their respective worksite needed to get them any particular programs then they would have just gave it to them, so as long as they had the technology to do it and they could manage their time working from home, then yeah, we were fine. There was no issues.
Jeff:
How does a potential student find out about Career Discovery Project?
Jon:
Word spreads many ways, so either a teacher of the visually impaired—usually they know about my program, most of them do, and they’ll- first they’ll tell me that they have a student that I should take to, maybe a student that might want to work this semester and so on, and then they’ll introduce me to the student. Sometimes the students tell each other—for example, the ones that are currently working in my program, their friends know that they’re working with me, so you know, eventually I’m going to get random phone calls and text messages from their friends, asking if I can find them work as well, and from there, then, we go through the proper channels, and I speak with their counselors and so on, and sometimes the students will- they’ll tell their counselor “I would like to work this year, who can I work with?” and most of the time the counselor- well, depending on the student, they do have to be college-bound, by the way, I don’t get them easy work, no way, so if they’re college-bound and the counselors feel they’re appropriate for my program, they will direct them to me.
Jeff:
Career Discovery Project, that’s a good name, that’s a good name.
Jon:
I wish I’d thought of it, but I didn’t, I guess I inherited it in 2014. In 2013 I was the assistant manager, and then when the manager at that time had left I just slid right in. My boss, she figured look, there’s no point hiring somebody new, you were already the assistant manager, you know more about this than I do, so just keep it going, and that’s what I did. Needless to say, I was scared to death when I first took over the program, and I mention that in my book, briefly, I was petrified, I never had such a job with such a huge responsibility. I thought I was going to ruin it instantly, which didn’t make any sense because I when I was assistant manager, I was like “Oh my god, if I was running this program I would do this, that, and the other thing,” then once I got in that position, I was like “Oh, me and my big mouth.” But look, man, I’m what, six, seven years later, probably 90 to 100 students, I have over 30 partner sites that cycle, I’m always getting new sites every semester, most of the sites that I’m working with this summer are brand new, the program keeps growing, I just wish I could just replicate this in urban cities nationwide, I would love to do something like that.
Jeff:
So many students, so many people who have visual impairment seems like a brick wall, barricades are up in trying to get a job and employment. How do you sell the potential of having a student do an internship when you’re going to a new partner?
Jon:
So, once I find a student that could be good for the site, I make sure I get their resume. Even if their resume is a little bit raw, I try to sell the site on just give them the work experience, we’ll pay them. I know it sounds very simple, but that’s usually what puts them at ease, because a lot of these companies, they can’t afford interns and extra help. Once I tell them “Look, first of all, I’m going to pay them. You just give them the work experience, find somewhere where they fit, they do like doing this and that, just interview them, meet them, no pressure. You don’t like the student, you don’t think it’s going to work out, that’s fine, no hard feelings, just give them a chance, give them an interview, let’s see how it turns out.” Quite honestly it works out pretty easily most of the time. I start off by sending emails, I describe the program briefly, and if I don’t get a response within, like, two weeks or so then I know the company’s not interested. Usually I get the whole wow, this sounds great, you know, who can we meet? And then from there we take it to the phone, and then we move forward. These employers just love- especially the employers who are in their, you know, late 20s and early 30s, they just love working with these young students, and they’re usually the ones who are more open to providing them an internship. I’m like “Look, the schedules are flexible. You guys could create any schedule you want. We’ll pay them. All you can do is benefit from the extra help, you know?” They just love it, and it’s been working well ever since.
Jeff:
So, you’ve noticed a change over the last seven- well, you’ve been there ten years. Have you noticed a change over the last ten years that companies are more willing to diversify or be more inclusive?
Jon:
I have, I definitely have. Probably they, you know- I don’t want to speak for any supervisors in particular, because I don’t know how they think, but it’s starting to get out there that companies have to be more inclusive and they need to give more people a chance. So let’s just say they already have that feeling and they haven’t had the opportunity yet, here I come to give them that chance to be more inclusive, and they take it, they run with it, most of the time I have very happy employers. I always love when they say, you know, can the student work another semester? I’m like “Yes!” That means everything is going really well. Yeah, they have opened up a lot more, I know when I first started it was more difficult for me to find placements, but now it’s like I just keep getting the “Yeah, can I meet someone, can I meet someone, who do you have?” and I’m like “Oh, great, there you go.” I just try to send them the best match possible.
Jeff:
That’s really great. Jon, you’ve really adapted to the changes, low expectations that society has upon people with visual impairments, or disabilities across the board, but you’ve been fighting that, and it’s showing that you’re getting more receptive, you’re getting awards for what you’re doing, you’ve come out with a book, and you’ve adjusted to the COVID-19 stage here, and you’re still successful. These young adults are growing, and the program’s still working. The Career Discovery Project is working. Good for you, Jon.
Jon:
Thank you so much, this is a- what can I say, again, I didn’t expect to ever be in this position, I got it, I ran with it, I see the positive effect that is happening, and I keep trying to keep that fire going. As long as there’s, you know, hungry students out there and there’s employers that want to be inclusive, we can make some really fun and exciting things happen.
Jeff:
What suggestions would you have for some TVIs and TBVIs out there, teachers, counselors, what suggestions would you have about the optimism that you seem to have about the potential of the students you’ve encountered?
Jon:
I could tell them, make sure if you know a particular student that has a particular talent, that student sticks to that talent, that they don’t get sidetracked or frustrated, you know, feeling that oh, because I’m blind I’m never going to get this kind of job. Encourage them, if they’re not in New York, to find a program that could find them, you know, some sort of work that they can do that interests them, where they could utilize their skills, so definitely talk to them, get inside their mind, see where they are and where it is that they want to go.
Jeff:
What advice would you have for a student who is indecisive, or not, hm, maybe hasn’t met role models or people who, you know, like you said, some parents don’t even encourage them or don’t even know that they have the potential to succeed in college. What advice would you have for those?
Jon:
Explore. If you don’t know what you want to do now, you’ll figure it out. Explore, try different things, see what it is that you like, maybe you might find a secret talent, you might find something that you’re good at, and then go for it, keep trying to go for it. Baby steps first, you know, you crawl, you walk, then you run. If your parents are a little hesitant to let you go out there and work, you have to show them that you are independent and that you can be independent. You have to show them, and if you need a little extra help, you know, try to get one of your teachers to talk to them, try to get a guidance counselor, that way you have a little backup and then maybe your parents will let up a little and let you spread your wings.
Jeff:
We used to call that- parents used to bring their students to the school, and it seems like they cut the umbilical cord right there, and you know, they could read 300 words of Braille per minute, they could read their talking devices, everything was, you know [makes talking device sound], super fast, everything was- but they just didn’t have soft skills, they didn’t have the skills to, you know, butter bread, basically, but they were so technically inclined, advanced, they were taking in all the data. To actually get your hands-on work, like you’re letting them do, giving them those opportunities, that’s where it all comes together.
Jon:
Yeah, you know, especially with the soft skills. I had one student, and you know, I love him to death, and now he’s almost a grown man, he’s also about to graduate college, well, I had him when he was really young and really raw, I got him an internship somewhere. He needed help with his social skills and he was always asking a lot of questions, he would just, like, barge into his supervisor’s office at random times just to talk and ask questions, so yeah, you’re definitely on target with, that they can have the work skills but then they don’t have the social skills, so, you know, fortunately I can teach all of that. I do need help, I do rely on somebody at the agency to already give me students that have some prevocational training. I kind of do the sharpening, a little bit, you know, but he learned. And as he got older he got a lot more mature, he got a lot better, and now he’s a completely different person than he was when he first started. These work experiences are just that, work experiences, and it teaches them life experience, so they’re learning how to be on their own and engage with employers, and customers, and visitors, especially with supervisors, because a lot of participants in the program, they work directly under the supervisor. So they’re being watched, and they’re learning- it’s on the job learning, for hard skills and soft skills.
Jeff:
Where can the listeners find out more about the Career Discovery Project?
Jon:
They can go to cityaccessny.org, they can click on Programs, they can click on the Career Discovery Project there. If it’s okay they can follow me on social media, I do like to give updates on what’s happening with my program as well as with the book, because they’re kind of intertwined, so on Twitter they can follow me @author_marin, M-A-R-I-N, they can follow me on Instagram at TheAuthorJonMarin, J-O-N, and they can also find me on LinkedIn as Jonathan Marin and on Facebook as Jon Marin, and you always will see me posting updates on my program, the excellent and exciting things that students are working on and what they’re accomplishing on my social media.
Jeff:
And how can someone find See Us, the book?
Jon:
The book—same way, they can follow my social media, so I use my social media for updates both on the book and on the internship program.
Jeff:
There you go. Well Jon, lot of information, lot of good stuff, lot of positive stuff, and you know, all in an effort to enhance the opportunities that you’re creating, making available to students for them to see a brighter future for themselves, so thank you so much for what you’re doing for the students out there in New York, and with your book, you’re going to probably have a big impact and bring more awareness to a lot of people across the world.
Jon:
That’s what I’m hoping, you know, my publisher told me and I should have told her, she said “You know, the great thing about this book is that there’s not just blind people in New York City, they’re all over the world, and a lot of people are going to want to see who these guys are, what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it.” So yeah, yeah, this is a- these are really some, like, exciting times, and I really hope that this book does have an impact on people and it touches them a little bit.
Jeff:
What’s your plans for the rest of the summer?
Jon:
I’m going to finish the program in about two weeks, then the un-fun part of reporting takes place after that. The kids will take their break, you know, some of them are going off to college. I’ll be working on the book as well, I’m going to start filming the trailer in a couple weeks, that’s going to be exciting—yes, a trailer for the book, I’m going full speed ahead with this. And then in September, I’ll start preparing for the fall semester, and hopefully by October I’ll have another 10 students, most likely working remotely depending on how open the city is and who’s allowing employees back to work onsite. So, yeah, we’re going to finish up the program, I’m going to, you know, do a little bit more on the book, hopefully get the book out by the end of the summer, early fall, and at the same time, you know, just keep the program going.
Jeff:
Mm-hm. You know, when you mention another 10 students, I’ve heard people say “I wish someone could just write a manual on how to teach BVI, but every student is so uniquely different, I’m glad that, like you said, you’ve got a lot of one-on-one going on here, and that helps the students so much.
Jon:
I did say another 10, I’m pretty sure about three or four that I have now will probably just continue in the fall semester, so you know, maybe I’ll have probably four or five slots empty for some new students. I do try to, you know, recycle a little bit, give as many a chance as possible.
Jeff:
Good for you. Thank you Jon, we’ve been talking to Jon Marin, program director of Career Discovery Project and author of See Us. Jon, thank you so much for coming on, this is a wonderful thing you’re doing I can’t say enough for, because I’ve been involved with transition-age students before, and it’s a good thing that there’s programs for them to go to so they can take that step up, realize that it’s possible, and through the experience of the other students that have gone through your program they too see that they can do it too, so thank you, Jon, for what you’re doing.
Jon:
I really appreciate the opportunity to get the work out, thank you very much.
Jeff:
Great time talking to Jon Marin, such great things that he’s doing out there in New York City, and if you’re not in New York City, be sure to check out your vocational rehab, your state services for the blind, and see what they can do for you. Live, work, read, succeed. Big shout-out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music, thank you Chee Chau. And if you have any questions or suggestions for the podcast, be sure to reach us at 612-367-6093. Leave us a message, and let us know if we can use it on the podcast. We’d love to have your voice heard. And from all of us here at Blind Abilities, through these challenging times, to you, your family, and friends, stay well, stay informed, and stay strong. Thanks for listening, and until next time, bye-bye.
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff:
For more podcasts with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities. Download our app from the app store Blind Abilities, that’s two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.
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