A little bit of “umph” can go a long way

May 29, 2016 News

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By Sharmain Grainger

The will to succeed is often the driving force that is required to help us achieve goals that sometimes appear elusive. We can all, I am sure, confess to having a few elusive goals which, once realised and shared, can serve as inspirations

to others.
But some people merely see their circumstances and, without even trying, are perfectly comfortable with accepting that they will never be able to realise goals they only savour in their dreams.
But according to one author “the difference between try and triumph is a little umph.”
I dare say that just last week I met a young man with a whole lot of “umph,” who is on course to realising what very few locals have.
It certainly wasn’t our first encounter, I’m sure it wouldn’t be our last, but our recent encounter had me captivated.
My encounter was with Ceion Junior Rollox. He is a 19-year-old student of the University of Guyana (UG). And I know, this is certainly nothing to shout about.
But Rollox is different. He was born with congenital cataract. Although his vision was blurred as a young boy it allowed him to do things in much the same way as seeing children. However, by the time he was a nine-year-old pupil of the Sophia Primary School his vision deteriorated even more.
After being attended to by a doctor at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, it was recommended that he travel to Cuba to undergo surgery. Rollox’s after-surgery vision was fairly okay during the day, but he could barely see at nights.
But six years later he would lose his vision altogether. He remembers the day he lost his vision all too well. “It was in 2011, the day after Easter Monday. I go to fly my kite and everything, but I couldn’t see to get back home.” Fortunate for him, he was in the company of a few of his cousins who helped to take him home.
But according to Rollox, this development was something he had long prepared his mind for. According to him, while in Cuba, doctors there had informed him that the actual success of the surgery would be known about six years after its completion. It turned out his surgery was not successful.
He was declared legally blind. Shadows may catch is attention every now and then, and the glare of the sunlight and other bright lights are painful to his eyes; he guards his eyes with a very dark shades.
His vision loss, however, has not been a deterrent to him. Just last year, Rollox was named among the top performing students of the Guyana Society for the Blind who participated in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination. He wrote five subjects and gained grade one passes in Principles of Business and Social Studies; grade two passes in Office Administration and English and grade three in Human and Social Biology.
Last year, too, he was accepted at the national University to pursue studies in Communication. And one year later he claimed that although it is difficult at times, he is determined to see his studies to the very end.
“University life is not easy, but once you make up your mind to work you can succeed, and I am coping. So far I only got one D out of five courses, all of the others have been As and Bs,” a smiling Rollox disclosed. He is convinced that his performance is on par with his sighted counterparts.
“Everything they do I can do the same…If it’s a group assignment, for instance, I do my part and submit it, I don’t depend on group members to assist me,” Rollox asserted.
When asked if his counterparts are supportive, he only chuckled, and instead informed “I don’t allow anything to get to me or depress me. I have my goals set and I intend to achieve them.”
You see Rollox has his eyes set on becoming a journalist. And the ambitious young man confided that he doesn’t simply want to be an announcer, he wants to do it all. According to him, he will not limit himself to merely radio or television announcing, but he also hopes to someday be able to write for a newspaper.
Of course I was enthused, for he spoke with such conviction. I told him I wanted to share his story – about his experience at University and his ambitious plans for the future. He, however, was not enthused by the idea of being the subject of a newspaper article. After all, he noted, “I have been in the news so many times…people wouldn’t really want to read about me again.”
But I begged to differ, and was soon rattling on about how much of an inspiration he could be to other persons who may be similarly challenged, or have other issues that might cause them to think that they cannot achieve certain goals or dreams. It didn’t take too long before he concurred.
Rollox is a member of an extended family that resides at a modest domicile at Sophia, Georgetown. According to him, his family has always been very supportive of him. Perhaps his endurance was fuelled by the support he got from his family, which was complemented by the encouragement he got from his teachers at the Society for the Blind.
Aside from the days when he attended the Sophia Special School and the Open Door Centre for the Differently Able, at which time he was deemed a hopeless student, Rollox recalled that throughout his life there were people who urged him to never give up on his dreams.
According to the young man, when he first lost his sight he was overwhelmed with thoughts that the world had ended for him, but it was the support he was privileged to receive that nurtured his ambition.
“My advice to people who have lost their vision and who might also be feeling that the world has ended for them, there is help designed just for people like us, and we can succeed if we only try. You can better your life even as a blind person,” Rollox confidently asserted.
And this very ambitious young man has already made it clear that he is prepared to be featured on Graduation Day to prove that he not only tried, but triumphed, and intends to continue in that vein.

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