After losing part of her vision in 2018 due to a traumatic brain injury, 2024 Council Scholarship Recipient Jasmine Bertschy was determined not to let her vision loss hold her back. While in high school in her hometown of Valders, Jasmine was named captain of the school’s cross country team. She also earned 16 college credits while attending Valders High School and later the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (WCBVI).
Jasmine already has her first advocacy victory under her belt as well, persuading the Janesville City Council to to install an audible crosswalk signal outside the school.
“Jasmine has a passion for helping others, as evidenced by her service in our local community,” says Christine Zastrow, a teacher at WCBVI. “She is a go-getter. When opportunities present themselves to Jasmine, she does not hesitate to take advantage of them.”
That’s certainly true in her studies at UW-Whitewater at Rock County. Pursuing a degree in Psychology, Jasmine had originally intended to go into a career in social work. But after shadowing a licensed counselor at a women’s shelter, she decided to switch gears and work towards becoming a mental health counselor.
“Watching her work with people as a counselor, I was much more interested in that than I was in the social work side,” Jasmine says. “I had mental health counselors throughout middle and high school and was inspired by them. I want to help others in ways that I had been helped.”
Jasmine will be attending her fourth semester at UW-Whitewater this fall, so she’s become an expert at using her white cane to move around campus. Jasmine says that she’s grateful for the extra steps the campus staff has taken to make things more accessible.
Jasmine says her Council scholarship will cover almost an entire semester’s tuition, leaving her only needing to fund a small amount on her own.
One of the most important things incoming college students with vision loss should know, according to Jasmine, is how to get in touch with their campus disability office. “They are going to become your best friends and offer so much guidance throughout your entire college career,” she says.
