Christian

Christian was born with full vision and played baseball for much of his life. During his freshman year of college, he began to lose his vision in both eyes and was diagnosed with a form of optic neuropathy that left him legally blind after six months. Today, Christian has some peripheral vision, but no central vision and relies on assistive technology for daily tasks, including completing his work as a Senior Solution Consultant for Oracle.

Christian grew up and attended college in Oklahoma. After being diagnosed as legally blind, he learned about The Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts. In March 2015, Christian enrolled in a 16-week intensive program at The Carroll Center to learn how to use public transportation and assistive technology and regain his independence.

During that time, Christian began exploring colleges in Massachusetts where he could continue his education. After completing the program at The Carroll Center, he was hired as a dormitory supervisor to help other individuals who were visually impaired. Christian also discovered that he was eligible to receive services from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB). MCB helped Christian enroll in courses at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston and ensured he had proper assistive technology to be successful as a visually impaired college student.

During his first semester at UMass Boston, Christian attended a networking event and met a recruiter from State Street Corporation. Christian worked as an intern at State Street for more than a year while he finished school. While there, he also participated in MCB’s summer internship program which included speaking on a panel at the program’s opening ceremonies.

With renewed independence, Christian took up sailing and met someone who became his career mentor. Before graduating from UMass Boston at the end of 2017, he attended a career fair that was a joint effort of MCB and Harvard Radcliffe Institute. During the career fair, he met with an individual from Tufts Health Plan (now known as Point32Health). Christian was hired as a finance business analyst and worked there for almost two years before being recruited by his current employer Oracle via LinkedIn.

Christian’s Oracle position allowed him to work remotely, and he was excited to move back home to be closer to his family in Oklahoma while still maintaining successful employment.

Enjoying his role in the technology and software world, Christian says that he now completely understands the importance of professional networks and career fairs for individuals with disabilities, such as those offered by Work Without Limits.