THROUGH HIS EYES

For Ian Birchall '10, the world is painted in black and white. People are clouds of grey, objects are formless, and nature is something to be smelled, touched, and heard. But Birchall, who was born legally blind, can't help but view the world in a positive light.

"The way I see it is that whatever happens is going to happen," he said. "When I was little I was kind of depressed and I'd ask, 'Why me?' But now I try not to let things get me down."

His philosophy on life has helped him to adjust to the place he now calls his second home-Providence College. Birchall, whose grandfather graduated from PC, said he was drawn to the College because of it small size and the services it offers to students with disabilities. "Something just clicked when I visited the campus," Birchall said. "Some of the other colleges I looked at didn't have much support."

After deciding to attend PC, Birchall spent the summer before freshman year walking around campus and creating a mental map of its buildings and pathways. By using a cane and following other students' voices for guidance, Birchall can now successfully navigate his way.

"As long as I know the general area, I can judge where I am going," he said. "I count lights, so I know my philosophy class is on the second floor of Accinno, six lights down on the right."

He plans to get a seeing eye-dog next summer, which he will take to classes and use in place of his cane.

Benefiting from technology

Before an aid introduced him to new technology for the blind during his junior year of high school, Birchall purchased all his books in Braille and took notes on a clunky, outdated Braille typewriter. He often had to wear a backpack that was nearly half his weight, as one math textbook is equivalent to about 55 volumes of Braille, he said.

He has since stopped using the volumes and instead relies on a specialized device with a voice synthesizer and a keypad in Braille. When he types in specific page numbers or chapters, the computer automatically reads the material to him.

"When I'm doing my homework, I turn it up to 90 words per minute," he said, grinning. "I can be done 20 minutes earlier than my friends across the hall."

Additionally, he can scan pages from books onto his laptop, which reads aloud the information to him.

This is particularly handy when he needs to read e-mail or check postings on ANGEL. "When a professor posts on ANGEL, it's the best thing ever," said Birchall, who hopes to major in business. "I can listen to it on my laptop and put it on my Braille [notetaker] and bring it to class."

Birchall used to have to memorize all of his friend's phone numbers, but he now has a cell phone that reads aloud the numbers on his contact list. "I learn through listening and memorizing," he said.

Before he began using his current laptop, Birchall had to lug around a 50-lb. cast-iron typewriter with a bell that would sound at the end of each line. Though it enabled him to take notes in Braille, it was clumsy and loud, and annoyed those around him, including his fourth-grade CCD teacher who refused to let him use it in class. Birchall said his teacher asked that he write the Hail Mary without his typewriter and began to scold him when he could not physically do it.

This experience scarred Birchall, causing him to stop attending CCD classes and Mass. It wasn't until he went to 10:30 p.m. Mass at PC last September that he realized he wanted to renew his faith in God. He has since enrolled in the College's Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program and is planning to be confirmed in April.

"Now I drink in every word they say at Mass," he said. "Now I'm actually learning the prayers."

Along with participating in RCIA, Birchall said he would like to try out for the Board of Programers or run for Student Congress.

Overcoming obstacles

Though Birchall says he now feels settled on campus, the thought of attending college was initially daunting.

"Orientation was one of the scariest things I've ever done in my entire life," he said. "I came here not knowing anyone or not knowing where I was." It was at orientation and the Board of Programer's annual trip to Newport, however, that he met some of his greatest friends.

One of his biggest regrets, he said, was requesting to live in a single. "I just leave my door open all day and people stop by," said Birchall, who already has roommates lined up for next year.

"I love it here at PC," he said. "I'll be walking down to Accino and I'll have eight people stop and ask me if I need help with anything. If I need help I ask for it."

He didn't always used to be that way, however. While attending East Providence High School, Birchall was a shy student who seldom sought help. His peers often teased him when he walked through the hallways.

"Sometimes kids would laugh and say, 'Watch this, he's going to walk into that wall,'" he said.

Since coming to PC, however, the teasing has ceased and frustration manifests itself in other areas. "The times I get discouraged the most are when I misplace something. I'll look in the most unusual places for hours and it ends up being right in the middle of the desk," Birchall said.

Also saddening to Birchall is the fact that he cannot see his family's faces. Though he used to be able to see colors as a child, his eyesight began to deteriorate as he grew older.

"One day I couldn't see as much and I walked into a fence. It swung out and knocked out my two front teeth," he said. "The last time I actually remember what my parents look like, I was in the third grade. I have baby cousins and I'm never going to know what they look like."

A passion for music and helping others

When Birchall starts to feel sorry for himself he turns to music. Using special software on his laptop, he can read music and jam to Led Zeppelin and the Beatles in his room in McDermott or at home with his father and brother. He plays his bluish-green Ibanez guitar every day, so much so that he cannot read Braille with his left hand because of his callus-worn fingers. He also plays the electrical drums, though he tries not to play them too often in the thin-walled rooms of McDermott. His goal before graduating is to play on stage in McPhail's.

In addition to music, Birchall said he enjoys reading, playing two-dimensional Super Nintendo video games, and wrestling. As a former wrestler in high school, Birchall is working with a group of other students in McDermott to try to start a wrestling club at PC.

Helping others who are blind has also been a healing grace for Birchall. He frequently speaks at elementary, middle, and high schools across the state to encourage other students who are blind to live life fully.

"I love talking to young kids in the state and steering them away from the mistakes I made when I was younger," he said. "If I help one kid, that kid will pass it onto the next kid. I tell them you can't get too upset about things; sometimes you just have to let life happen."