(Editor’s note: A blind Norcross college graduate has found his perfect job—at the Library of Congress. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Jones. Read below his inspiring story, which is excerpted from a 2,258 word article we asked that he send to GwinnettForum. He is now living independently in our Nation’s Capitol. If you want to read his entire response, click here. ) —eeb
By Timothy Jones
WASHINGTON, D.C. | During my freshman year at Mercer, a student journalist once interviewed me. I told her that I wanted to eventually be somewhere serving God. If someone had told me then I would be serving Him in Washington, D.C.–making music available to the blind through braille music—I would never have believed it.
Jones
On a warm day in May of 2019, I walked across the field at Mercer University’s Five Star Stadium to receive my degree, a bachelor’s of music in organ performance, summa cum laude. Then on an unusually cold day in May 2021 I stood with my family in the Georgia State University Stadium to receive my master’s degree in piano pedagogy. I had only dimly realized when I began my journey where it might take me, and the road has ended up taking me in a totally unexpected direction.
When young, after being rejected by several piano teachers who said, “I wouldn’t know how to teach a blind child!” my parents approached Miss Patti Bennet, pianist at Norcross First Baptist Church, now of Flowery Branch, if she would be willing to teach a blind child. Miss Patti’s eyes flashed when she said: “Why, you teach a blind child the same way you would teach a sighted child!” Miss Patti designed from scratch an entire program for teaching me and under her training I was soon winning multiple awards and scholarships.
After graduating from high school in 2014, I considered enrolling at Mercer University in Macon. To my astonishment, not only was I accepted into the Organ Performance program, but I was granted a generous scholarship. Far more remarkable, however, was the level of caring and personal investment shown by the faculty, administration, and fellow students which made it possible for me to succeed as a blind music major at Mercer. I had no idea of the next step in His leading.
But God did not leave me to wonder for long. Later that same month, my mom met a music education major, who shared that Georgia State had an excellent music program—including a Graduate degree program in Piano Pedagogy.
However, once graduating in 2021, I still faced the problem of what to do for a career. My professors at both Mercer and Georgia State told me that musicians cannot survive on concertizing and playing in church alone. One even taught me how to tune a piano, a possibility for future support. The term “starving artists” is real, and requires the musician to have a versatile portfolio for survival.
Then I heard of a newly-created ten week internship to provide students with disabilities a transition from college to employment at the Library of Congress. It required proofreading braille music scores that had been digitized from the hard copy collection—which would necessitate extreme fluency in reading complicated scores in the Music Braille code—a skill I had honed during my six years of music degree study.
At the end of the internship, I heard of a newly-opening full-time position as a Librarian of Braille Music with the Library of Congress. I got the job, found quarters, then moved to Washington, and started in my new position in February of 2022. I’ve been here now for two months, and thoroughly enjoy my work.
I can never repay all many people the debt of gratitude I owe, but hope to “pay forward” this debt by similarly investing in the lives of others through my work at the Library of Congress; opening doors to music literacy for a new generation of visually impaired musicians and composers.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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