‘Challenge accepted’: Blind Penn State student defies odds, graduates top of class

Of the more than seven million Americans with visual impairments, just around 15% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the National Federation of the Blind. Graduating at the top of his class, Penn State student Michael Smedley is paving the way for blind students to advocate for themselves and find success in academia.

Smedley will graduate from Penn State this weekend with a 4.0 and a bachelor’s degree in theatrical sound design and telecommunications. Born with a rare eye disease and growing up blind, Smedley has relied on his other senses to navigate the world — inspiring his love of sound design and music.

“Sound has always been the way I interacted with the world; it’s how I knew where I was, what was happening, and who was there,” Smedley said. “Being visually impaired has given me a leg up in the sound design world because I have always been soaking in all sorts of sonic information and stepping into the role of a sound designer lets me iron out the why and how of the who, what, when and where of theatrical productions, concerts and music.”

After completing his freshman year at Belmont University, Smedley transferred to Penn State due to his desire for a big school experience that had the benefits of a small program. With Penn State’s School of Theatre being the smallest college on campus, its sound design program sparked his interest — and he ended up becoming part of the program’s incoming class of three.

“I thought it would be a really cool experience to have the opportunities of a massive campus but get a really close personal relationship with my professors,” Smedley said.

Throughout his time at Penn State, Smedley worked as a sound designer for Penn State Centre Stage, was part of the School of Theatre Student Advisory Board and was a teaching assistant for the College of Communications. He is the 2022 Telecommunications Student Martial and has won several awards including the Evan Pugh Scholar Senior Award and the President’s Freshman Award.

Smedley said one of his most fond memories was when he helped fill Beaver Stadium with synthetic crowd noises, and when he worked at the Bryce Jordan Center for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.

Making change, tackling inclusivity issues

His Penn State journey hasn’t been without its hurdles, however. Despite the sheer size of the university, Smedley said many of the campus’s older buildings didn’t have Braille signs because the law didn’t require it. Smedley spearheaded an effort with Student Disability Resources to implement the signs across campus, making Penn State a more inclusive place for those with visual impairments.

He also helped to launch a Student Diversity Committee within the School of Theatre to tackle issues of inclusivity — such as identifying areas on campus where Braille signs or wheelchair ramps are needed.

Smedley grew up in Newtown and went to Council Rock South High School — where, despite being one of the largest high schools in Bucks County, Smedley described himself as being the first blind student many of his teachers had encountered in the classroom. Because of this, he said many of them struggled to modify their teaching styles to accommodate him.

Nonetheless, Smedley excelled in school, playing on regular sports teams, winning championships and taking AP classes. At the end of his senior year, he was recognized as valedictorian.

When he arrived at Penn State, he was met by a professor that embraced his visual impairment as an exciting learning opportunity rather than an intimidating challenge. That professor, Curtis Craig, would turn into a mentor.

Craig, professor of sound design and head of BFA in Theatre Design and Technology, first met Smedley when he interviewed for the sound design program. Craig said he had already listened to Smedley’s portfolio of work and knew what he could do artistically, but he wasn’t prepared for Smedley’s “game for anything” personality.

Craig, who had a degenerative corneal disease, had dealt with some visual challenges of his own but in more than two decades of teaching, he had never had a blind student in his classroom. Teaching Smedley showed him how certain technological advancements — such as the exchange of knobs on consoles for touchscreens of glass — has set the sound design space back by making devices harder to interact with for people with visual impairments.

To solve this, they relied on voice-over technology that spoke out loud “incredibly fast” when Smedley moved his mouse. This is just one instance of Craig finding ways to adapt.

“He’s taught me to always think of everything from another perspective, which I think is really cool because there are certain students who are audible learners and there are others who aren’t,” Craig said. “Everyone has a different learning style.”

When asked how he would describe Smedley as both a student and as a person, Craig said he could not think of a word short of “remarkable.”

“I knew he was a musical soul but what I didn’t realize was how he was going to approach everything and say ‘I want to try this’ without fear of failing,” Craig said. “He’s kind of boundless, which is amazing because I don’t know which direction he’s going to go next but I know it will be remarkable.”

More than a statistic

Reflecting on the small percentage of blind people that earn a college degree, Smedley said he believes the blame falls on more than just the shortcomings within academia. He emphasized that many parents “bubble wrap” legally blind kids from an early age because they don’t want them to get hurt. Because of this, many are home-schooled or if they do go to public school, they are separated from other students.

“When this happens, kids don’t learn how to advocate for themselves,” Smedley said. “I’m extremely grateful that I was thrown in on sports teams and in the classrooms with everyone else and learned how to make noise when I needed to because I was prepared to come to a campus this massive with a list of the accommodations I need.”

He has his mother, Kristen Smedley, to thank for that. Kristen was told by his kindergarten teachers that her son was expected to achieve at a 70% level due to his vision loss. Her son was the first blind person she had ever met and without the presence of social media, she said she had no idea what was ahead for him.

“I was irritated that visually impaired kids weren’t expected to achieve at the same level that sighted kids were because without those expectations, schools aren’t going to get the tools they need to help students succeed,” she said.

Only 10% of blind children are learning Braille, according to 2009 data from the National Federation of the Blind. Kristen Smedley, now co-founder of Thriving Blind, an organization committed to helping visually impaired individuals succeed, said that unless all students are being taught by audio, “Braille is literacy.”

While many other kids don’t have access to this due to lack of school resources, Michael and his brother — both of which have the same eye disease — went into school early every day so they could learn Braille without being pulled out of classes. This is one of the reasons Michael was able to thrive in primary and post-secondary school.

“He ran circles around everyone,” she said. “He knows there’s a big world out there and he wants access to it in its entirety.”

After graduation, he is heading to Orlando for a six-month professional internship with Disney where he will be working as an audio system engineer. As someone that enjoys constant change, he said he’s excited for the heavy workload and ability to explore new projects.

“I think a lot of people see that low percentage and think that the odds are stacked against them — but when I saw it, I thought ‘challenge accepted,’” Smedley said. “That statistic isn’t going to change on its own if we do nothing about it; it will only change if more of us go out and put in the time and walk out of school with our degrees.”