WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:09.654 [music] 00:00:27.488 --> 00:00:28.880 My name is Sheryl Burgstahler 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:31.200 and I'm the director of Accessible Technology Services 00:00:31.200 --> 00:00:33.200 here at the University of Washington. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.920 And part of my role is to direct the DO-IT Center 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:41.360 where DO-IT stands for Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology. 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:43.920 The first program we funded started in 1992. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.840 It's called the DO-IT Scholars program. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.160 The DO-IT Scholars program is where 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:49.520 we work with teens with disabilities, 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:51.680 get them ready for college and careers. 00:00:51.680 --> 00:00:54.160 Randy was in our first group of DO-IT Scholars and 00:00:54.160 --> 00:00:56.560 now he's an adult and moved on, 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:58.640 but he's still engaged in the program. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:02.640 He's still giving back to the DO-IT Scholars program by mentoring younger people, 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.240 but also sharing with the world how to make this place a more accessible place. 00:01:07.620 --> 00:01:09.580 I'm Randy Hammer. 00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:13.200 I was one of the first DO-IT Scholars. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:17.924 I started with DO-IT in 1993. 00:01:17.924 --> 00:01:21.040 We were one of the first summer programs. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.520 I believe there were 16 of us that came to the University of Washington. 00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:29.683 We spent two weeks on campus living in the dorms 00:01:29.683 --> 00:01:36.891 and experiencing different types of science, technology, engineering. 00:01:36.891 --> 00:01:39.680 All of us had disabilities. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:42.240 I, for example, am completely blind. 00:01:42.240 --> 00:01:44.480 Both of my eyes are prosthetics. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:46.320 Other folks that were in the group, 00:01:46.320 --> 00:01:50.240 we had some that were hearing impaired. 00:01:50.240 --> 00:01:52.640 We had some with mobility impairments. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.560 A very good friend of mine had, has cerebral palsy. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:01.360 I specifically remember one of the the Saturday night that we were up here 00:02:01.360 --> 00:02:07.040 and we all sat in the common room of the dorm. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:11.600 We had TV going. We were all just being kids, 00:02:11.600 --> 00:02:16.160 all being teens and we were existing with each other 00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:19.760 in the way that all teens normally do. 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:22.560 And it was so, looking back at it now, 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.320 very special, even though at the time 00:02:24.320 --> 00:02:26.880 it was, it was just, you know, another night. 00:02:26.880 --> 00:02:32.800 But thinking about the context of that night now with my perspective is, 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:37.360 it's actually a very special memory. I'm glad I brought that up. 00:02:56.480 --> 00:03:01.040 Through DO-IT, I found an internship at Weyerhaeuser. 00:03:01.040 --> 00:03:02.640 Weyerhaeuser is a forestry company. 00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:07.590 And through that internship I got on with their IT department. 00:03:07.590 --> 00:03:12.240 I had already started to think about computers as my eventual career 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:16.240 and so this kind of meshed very well for me. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.840 And I worked through that internship 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:25.280 and not only came out of that internship with a permanent position at Weyerhaeuser 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:30.080 but ultimately became a senior member of the team that I was on, 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.000 was promoted multiple times. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.360 And it was all due to the fact that I got my foot in the door 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.920 and DO-IT got that for me. 00:03:37.920 --> 00:03:41.920 The mentorship that I had early on from DO-IT 00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:48.240 was sufficient to show me how to actually mentor people 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:54.160 and that has specifically influenced my career because I manage people now, 00:03:54.160 --> 00:03:59.680 but it also has allowed me to be a functional mentor 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.440 for existing or new DO-IT Scholars, 00:04:03.440 --> 00:04:06.080 the ones that are coming into the program now. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.560 The only way to become a leader 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.760 is to observe other leaders in the field. 00:04:13.760 --> 00:04:16.480 And sometimes those leaders are successful 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:20.000 and you learn from how they do it successfully. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.920 Being a leader is so key to what I do today 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:28.701 that I, it's difficult for me to break that down 00:04:28.701 --> 00:04:31.200 but if I go back in my own history 00:04:31.200 --> 00:04:34.080 and think about the things that I have done in my life, 00:04:34.080 --> 00:04:36.320 all of that rolls back to the idea 00:04:36.320 --> 00:04:42.230 of how do I take the people that are around me and 00:04:42.230 --> 00:04:45.360 through my own actions make them better. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.120 And that really is the idea of mentorship. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.562 And that's what DO-IT does. 00:04:50.941 --> 00:04:52.560 We started the DO-IT program 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.360 with funding from the National Science Foundation. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.560 And now it s grown to a collection of activities 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.480 that are sponsored by many groups including the National Science Foundation, 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:06.320 the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Labor, 00:05:06.320 --> 00:05:11.280 the State of Washington, Microsoft, Boeing, many other funders. 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:15.280 All of our projects are centered around increasing the success 00:05:15.280 --> 00:05:21.260 of people with disabilities in college and careers using technology as an empowering tool.