Sam Valavanis' goal is to educate the wider community about living with blindness or low vision, and a Vision Australia Further Education Bursary has him on track to achieving that.
Sam is currently studying a Diploma of Audio Engineering and Sound Production at Melbourne’s JMC Academy and is keen to forge a career in the radio industry, where he can share his lived experience and that of others who are blind or have low vision.
Sam participated in Vision Australia’s LEAP Program, and it was during this he fully realised the importance of helping people better understand what living with blindness or low vision means.
"When people started to find out about my vision impairment, it made me want to be able to self-advocate as they would often misrepresent it,” Sam said.
"I want to help spread awareness and the media is a very large-scale way to do that.”
Sam is totally blind as after having both eyes removed in childhood due to bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer in children.
The Vision Australia Further Education Bursary has provided him with a suite of equipment, including a VictorReader Trek (an MP3 player, navigation tool and audio recorder), AfterShokz Bluetooth headphones, a voice recorder, a lapel microphone, a laptop with JAWS software license, and an iPhone, which has made learning his radio craft much easier.
"I’m now able to do my own recordings and work on my presenting techniques,” he said.
"In the classroom it’s helpful as it allows me to record lectures to listen back to when needed.”
Ultimately Sam wants to have his own radio show to advocate for others with disabilities, presenting the best way to assist without being overbearing and imposing on their personal space.
"I’ve recently signed up with a radio group called SYN. I haven’t had a lot of experience there yet but it's been great so far and I can’t wait to see what I can do there.”
The Vision Australia Further Education Bursary program has supported more than 400 students achieve their dreams of tertiary study since 1996. Find out more about the bursary and how you can apply.