You may have seen Joe Hodge around campus with his bright red hair and his full blood German Shepherd seeing eye dog. Some may gawk. Some may laugh. Some may be curious. However, I eagerly shout, "Joe! It's Meira! How are you?" He responds with his soothing, carefree voice that he is doing fine.
To me, Joe is one of the most inspiring people I have met in my college experience.
I didn't know if I was supposed to suspect something different from a person who was blind. Maybe I had been sheltered my whole life, but I'd never had a friend who couldn't see. However, any misconceptions I had were cleared up the second Hodge started talking to me. He was so lively, energetic and witty that I was immediately drawn in.
Hodge was diagnosed with retinal blastoma (cancer of the eye) when he was 11 months old. The doctors told him he only had seven months to a year to live, but remarkably the cancer never came back.
Because he is blind, people are constantly setting limitations for Hodge. People repetitively tell him he cannot do this or he cannot do that. Hodge does everything in his power to prove these people wrong. His one answer to ignore people who judge him always seemed to be listening to the radio. His inspirations are Howard Stern, George Sedano, and Brent Smith (lead singer from Shinedown). He admires Howard Stern because, like Hodge, Stern was told his whole life he would never make it. Yet, defying those people, Stern rose his way to the top. His constant joking keeps Hodge laughing for those days that aren't so positive.
Brent Smith would keep up a stream of positive, inspiring speeches. In one speech he exclaimed if a person has a dream, a goal, nobody has the right to "put you in a corner and tell you that you can't achieve your goal."
His words of wisdom kept Hodge strong. For most of Hodge's life people told him he should do something realistic, such as working with computers, which they thought would be ideal for a blind person. Hodge does not want to work with computers; he wants to work his way to the top of the radio industry. And I truly believe with his vigor, power, hard work and work ethic he can make it. I have the utmost respect for a person who has a high dream that seems impossible.
And it does seem impossible for a person to try to rise their way to the top of such a competitive business along with the fact that he is judged unfairly by a lot of the radio executives.
Hodge endures many struggles, one of them being the fact that he can't drive. Because he can't drive anywhere, he felt isolated and trapped. I think all of us know that feeling of wanting to stop being dependent on anyone to take us places and take care of us. It seemed for Hodge that that feeling was inescapable. He had to have other people drive him places.
Being at Ball State University gives Hodge a sense of the freedom he never had. The Muncie bus system allows him to move freely across Muncie. He now has an apartment, goes to class, cooks, takes care of his seeing eye dog, Robin, and lives life as an independent person.
I'm sick of this misconception that people have of those who they categorize as different. It seems to me that people think those whom are blind are somewhat behind them in some way and are not capable of achieving the things that typical society members can achieve. Where did this idea come from?
"Character is what separates us from one another; it's really what defines us. I could lay around and feel sorry for myself for not being able to see, because I don't have sight, but I want more for myself than that and I'd hope everyone would feel the same if they were in the same position," Hodge said.
Write to Meira at mabienstock@bsu.edu
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