Visually impaired teacher attains master’s despite difficulties

Although Gillian Dallas has been categorised as legally blind for the past two decades, she recently completed a master's degree in educational administration with a distinction.

The 44-year-old related that she started experiencing challenges with her eyes at age seven, while a student at Spanish Town Primary School. She was diagnosed with keratoconus, a disorder that results in progressive thinning of the cornea.

"I didn't like the glasses because people used to tease me and call me four eyes," she recalled. Dallas transitioned to the St Catherine High School but in Grade 10, it became increasingly difficult to see. Even though she sat at the front, her classmate Sherene Plummer had to help by copying assignments and notes for her.

"By time I got to grade 11, the school decided that I wasn't going to do any CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) subjects because I couldn't see and they assumed that I wouldn't be able to manage. But my mom sent my second eldest sister to represent her at school and she told them to let me take the exams and she will pay for it. They allowed me to do the exams, even though it was a struggle. But I learned how to develop a tough skin and still pushed through to do my work on time," Dallas said.

After completing her secondary education in 1994, doctors told Dallas that she would be blind by age 18 and recommended surgery.

"I was very scared ... to be young and blind was not something I thought about. I was all about being independent but I was very scared," she related.

A successful corneal transplant was done at the Kingston Public Hospital the following year. The Lakes Pen district, St Catherine, native had hopes of becoming a medical doctor but had to make the conscious decision to switch careers. By 1997, she enrolled at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, to initially read for a degree in English before switching to the philosophy and psychology programme.

Her eyesight continued deteriorating after another surgery in 1998. However, despite the challenges she was able to complete her undergraduate degree in 2001 and began teaching science at St Catherine High the same year. She told THE STAR that in 2019, she decided to pursue a master's degree at The Mico University College but said officials told her to get a special report from her doctors to say that she could manage.

"I said to them that doctors cannot say if I can manage, I am the one who can tell you if I can manage. At this time, I had rheumatoid arthritis so I had swelling everywhere ... but I didn't go because I wouldn't let anybody stigmatise me," Dallas said.

She pursued her master's at The UWI and had challenges when learning went online, as her eyes were strained from being in front the screen frequently. She even spent a week in hospital for a week after contracting COVID-19. But having achieved her post-graduate degree, Dallas stressed that it is symbolic achievement that proves that anything is attainable, once you are committed to it.

"As long as you have life, there is always hope, so always push," she said.