First fully-blind student graduates from Edwardsburg High School

NOW: First fully-blind student graduates from Edwardsburg High School
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EDWARDSBURG, Mich.— Graduating high school is a day that all seniors look forward to, and with having the big milestone come during a pandemic, high schools have had to find different ways to celebrate their students.

For Edwardsburg senior Cameron Beaver, this day is a special one, one he’s been looking forward to for years.

At only seven weeks old, Cameron Beaver was diagnosed with bilateral retinal blastoma, a form of eye cancer that took away his vision completely in both of his eyes.

From the beginning of his education, all the way until his senior year of high school, Cameron’s journey hasn’t been the easiest with learning how to do things as a blind student.

“It’s just been learning, we’ve both been learning through the whole lifespan so far of what do we do, how do we do it, where do we go,” Cameron’s mother Susan Beaver said.

“Schools have just been a journey because it’s also been a learning lesson for all of the school systems to know what to do for someone who cannot see and a person who is blind.”

However, these obstacles haven’t stopped him from succeeding, and on Sunday, Cameron graduated, making his mark on Edwardsburg high history as the first blind student.

“Tonight is amazing. It’s been a journey and just a road and a half to get to and we’re just so proud and excited for him,” Susan said.

Cameron said he couldn’t have done it without the support from his family and teachers.

 “It’s been a tough road,” Cameron said.

“I’m very happy, especially to all of my teachers such as Mr. Ryan Rosencrantz and Mr. Brian Clements who have really helped me out.”

For Cameron, graduating means way more to him than walking across a stage and being handed a diploma.

“It really just means that I’ve accomplished a lot of things that a lot of people said I would never ever able to accomplish,” Cameron said.

“I’m just really happy to be able to prove people that blind people can graduate.”

Cameron said to any student who has had a hard time or has been told they can’t accomplish something:

“My message for these people is it doesn’t matter what your disability is, you can accomplish anything you desire,” Cameron said.

Cameron said that he’s already been job hunting and that he hopes he can put his computer skills and speaking skills to good use.

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