Oneida County College Student Corps Intern Kathleen Marscher works with Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired worker TJ Sanzo

The Oneida County College Student Corps is helping Oneida County-based students learn about great opportunities in their home region. Intern Kathleen Marscher of New Hartford is shaping her future this summer at the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Utica, one of Oneida County’s great employers.

Kathleen Marscher’s internship at the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired is much more than just a summer job. It’s an important part of her life. Marscher, a New Hartford native who is a senior at SUNY Oswego, said the daily client interactions have influenced her decision to work and live in the field and in this region. “Yes, school provides a lot of experience in behavioral science, but this internship provides more experience with human services, I’ve learned the specifics of rehabilitation,” Marscher said. Her internship has also shown her that Oneida County has many potential jobs for her when she gets out of school. “It’s a great place to work, it really plugs you into the vision rehab, a field that is growing tremendously these days. It’s nice to know I will be able to have a job when I get out of school,” said Marscher, who enjoys spending time in the Adirondacks and hopes to go to graduate school for a career in visual rehabilitation.  But above all else, it’s the sheer scope of the internship that is the most important part to her. “I get to work with people of all ages. It provides a very unique experience.” She described her daily interactions with CABVI clients this way:  “It’s a more personal connection working with the people we serve than you can get in college, giving them directions for where to walk, helping them with their daily activities, having a real one-on-one connection with them, it’s truly incredible.”

Photos and text by Timothy E. Davis