Mia Zutter
Council Scholarship Recipient Mia Zutter says she’s ready to be finished with school. Mia will be graduating from Northern Illinois University this winter with her master’s degree in Special Education in Visual Disabilities with plans to begin her career as a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI). She’s student teaching at the Wisconsin School for the Blind & Visually Impaired in Janesville this semester and is excited to begin moving toward her professional career.
Mia’s first year at Northern Illinois University wasn’t without challenges. When winter came, Mia found that her apartment was without heat. The issue lasted long enough for a pipe to burst in her bedroom, forcing her to move into a hotel room for several weeks. While still grappling with the loss of her belongings, Mia also faced pushback in her schooling. “I was paired with a TVI who wasn’t comfortable with my vision loss and didn’t think I was capable of being a TVI myself,” Mia says. “It really put my self-confidence to the test, having to work with someone who didn’t think I was capable of what I was in school to do.”
But the adversity did not keep Mia down. With some help from people on her campus who believed in her, Mia was able to advocate for herself and was switched to shadow a different instructor who was more than happy to teach her how she could be a TVI with vision loss. “I really had to become my own hype woman,” Mia says. “I had so much support from people on my campus. I think my vision loss has made me hyper-independent, because I am so dependent on other people for things like transportation. I learned to ask for and accept help when it’s offered, because it’s not worth dying on the hill of doing it on my own.”
Notwithstanding the hardships of her first year at NIU, there was plenty to celebrate as well. Mia worked as a research assistant on campus, studying ways to make physical fitness more accessible to people who are blind or low vision. As a certified yoga instructor, Mia focused her research on how yoga and meditation could help people with vision loss lead healthier lives. Mia notes that yoga is by its nature very accessible to people with vision loss. All you really need is a mat, a little space, and someone to show you the ropes. “Yoga is wonderful for people with vision loss, because you don’t even need to leave your home or have an in-person instructor,” Mia says. “I found that yoga can really help a person’s balance, which can give people a bit more security comfort in their own body in everyday life.”
As she finishes her final semester of school, Mia says she is grateful to the Council for its support over her educational career. “Being on a student budget again is tricky,” Mia says. “The scholarship will be helping with everyday things. It’s my student teaching semester, so I know I’ll be pulled in a bunch of different directions. The scholarship will help make sure I’m eating healthy. Of course, at least a little bit will be going to the peanut butter fund for my guide dog Jasmine too!”
The Council has been awarding scholarships to postsecondary students who are blind or low vision for decades. You can find more information about our scholarship program and check out our Meet the Scholarship Recipients video at WCBlind.org/Events/Scholarships.