My Education

September 3rd, 1966

Good Morning,

Today I decided that I should share with you all of the basic education I have received that makes all of these blog posts possible. Even though I was blind and deaf, I pushed myself (along with the help of others) to learn as many things as I could. When I got sick at 19 months I lost my sight and my hearing, which obviously caused trouble for my learning path. My family hired personal instructors to help me learn, but most of them left after I got very frustrated -- therefore my temper getting out of control. I even hit some of my teachers out of frustration because it was very hard to learn things. 

Then finally on March 3rd, 1887, along came Anne Sullivan, my teacher and the one who taught me everything I know. I was communicating with my mother a couple days ago and she vividly remembers me saying "The most important day I remember in all of my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrast between the two lives which it connects" a few years back. Anne and I were very different, which made working together strangely successful.

 Anne was the building block of my education. She is the one who taught me how to spell. She did this by drawing letters onto my hand, that way I could feel the letters. She also incorporated items into my daily routine that we were working with. The best example I have for you is when Anne poured water over my hand while spelling out the word w-a-t-e-r at the same time. “Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that 'w-a-t-e-r' meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! …Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life.” It was amazing to learn through Anne, she knew how to incorporate my life into my learning. 

After learning with Anne how to do the basic spelling, she took me to Perkins School. I learned how to read braille here and type on a typewriter that was specially made with braille letters on it. Through the Perkins school, publicity started to surround me and my accomplishments. After Perkins I went to New York and worked on my speaking and communicating abilities. Returning from New York, I enrolled into Cambridge School for Young Ladies. I had a strong desire to go to college, and although it was difficult to get my test scores where they needed to be to be accepted, with Anne's help I did just that. I was accepted into Radcliffe college when I was twenty years old in the year 1900. I graduated within the normal four years, completing all of my work on time. Anne came along to all of my classes and interpreted everything for, which is the only way things were possible.

I am really thankful for Anne for sticking around even when things got complicated, or my temper got a little out of hand. My education was very important to me, and I was very proud of everything I was able to accomplish- defying the odds.

Until next time,
Helen

Anne Sullivan and I and my first interaction with water while Anne was teaching me how to spell it.