Scholarship Recipients Encouraged to Use Their Natural Creativity

“Regardless of what you want to achieve, your ability to problem solve is what’s going to bring you forward.”

That was the message Peter Tucic, Director of Strategic Partnerships at HumanWare, imparted to the 20 students with visual impairments and two Chicago Lighthouse employees and their families in attendance at the 2024 Lader Family Scholarship ceremony this summer. This year, the program awarded $48,000 in financial assistance to students to use on tuition, books, assistive technology or other educational expenses.

Peter, who once ran the National Assistive Technology Help Desk at The Lighthouse, spoke about how his vision impairment helped him develop natural problem-solving skills that have served him both personally and professionally.

As an example, he told a story about being dropped off in a strange location with no bearings about how to find the building he needed to enter. By using his listening skills and previous knowledge, Peter heard the sound of a chain banging against a flagpole and determined that “where there is a flagpole, there is an entrance.”

Peter encouraged the 22 students, who would be pursuing professional certificates, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, to use those same instincts in their educational endeavors and professional lives.

“I have been more lost or more out of sorts than anyone in this entire room, but I have always tried to spin it,” he said. “I try to think of what it is or was that I could do so that next time I wouldn’t be in a situation like this one.”