January 19, 2021
It’s not often that you’ll meet a sighted college student who also reads braille fluently. But that’s not the only amazing quality about Caroline Karbowski, a junior at The Ohio State University. Her major is biology and chemistry with a minor in education and American Sign Language but her skills as a braille reader are why she became interested in an internship at Clovernook Center. Caroline just wrapped up her internship with us and she has been a great addition to our braille department over her winter break.
Caroline began teaching herself to read braille when she was in 6th grade because she wanted to be able to read books on long family trips without getting carsick. Today, she finds that she can’t even imagine life without knowing braille. She uses it daily. For example, she added braille to the buttons on her car radio so that she never has to take her eyes off the road. That way she can identify the setting she wants simply by touch. Caroline also spends her time teaching others, “When I teach a class, I intentionally teach it as if I were blind so that I know that all students will have full access to all course materials and tools.”
Caroline’s goal during her internship was to learn more about braille transcription software and to learn more about braille production and shipping. Her work assignments in the Braille Printing House have given her the opportunity to reach these goals. When asked about her long-term aspirations, she quickly responds by saying, “I hope to make science and technology more accessible. I’m especially interested in improving accessibility in science labs.”
Caroline is also the founder of See3D, a non-profit that prints and distributes 3D models for people who are blind and provides them free of charge. View her TEDx Talk here to learn more about her journey and See3D.
We wish you every success, Caroline!
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