Sarim Syed, a Grade 8 College Heights Secondary School student, is going to change the world.
Just ask any educator who has had the pleasure of teaching him.
Sarim is going to Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama from Oct. 6 to 10.
Sarim was diagnosed at three years old with Cone Dystrophy, a visual impairment that designates him as legally blind.
“Throughout the whole time I have been at school I have required certain things which would help me grow, especially academically,” Sarim explains. “As soon as I came to Canada I required these things in order for me to learn - to complete my school work and be involved with people.”
Sarim lived in United Arab Emirates and made the move to Prince George seven months ago.
Soon after he started at College Heights Secondary, Sarim met School District 57 Braille transcriber Irene Siemens who was able to get items Sarim needed to succeed like enlarged print text books and work sheets.
“Miss Irene told me and my parents about Space Camp,” Sarim says.
“I’m very excited to accompany Sarim to Space Camp,” Siemens says. “I am just excited Sarim has the opportunity to experience it and I know the program will be better having him in it.”
Denise Perry, Sarim’s teacher of students with visual impairments, got involved and soon Sarim was registered for the camp where students from around the world will come together during a week-long adventure that includes accessible challenges involving space science, math, aviation and simulated space and aviation missions. Perry has been sending students to the camp since 1995 and hopes to send more students from SD57 in the coming years with Sarim leading the way.
"Sarim has received the Lighthouse Visions Scholarship that covers his tuition and air travel," Perry said.
Sarim still has to raise $2,500 to cover all other expenses.
"It's important for Sarim to attend Space Camp because everyone who attends is visually impaired - so that's the norm," Perry said. "That's so important because right now he's one of so few - we have 22 visually impaired students in School District 57 but they are in all different schools. The camp changes their sense of themselves and offers them the chance to do things that others can do."
Sarim said he is happy and excited to attend Space Camp.
“I feel like science and math are a foundation to go into different branches of education and explore other things but what I will mainly focus on in Space Camp will be science as you can definitely use science as a way to help other people who are visually impaired. I want to help other people in the world who are struggling.”
It’s a great source of frustration for visually impaired people, Sarim explains, not to have access to resources that are easily available to those who are sighted. He can’t see what we see and raising awareness about what it means to be visually impaired is a priority for Sarim.
“When you can’t have access to computers and other resources and you find out there’s a place with all these resources that you can experience to their full potential it's something to look forward to," Sarim says. "I’ve always been fascinated with space travel and the way space travel is coordinated so when I found out about Space Camp I had a lot of expectations about seeing some futuristic things and experiencing things to their full potential according to my visual impairment."
Sarim's future is based on helping humanity in some capacity.
“I definitely see a career using physics or science to benefit society,” Sarim says. “I really want to use it to help people who have similar struggles like me or something that benefits the world as a whole to help people less fortunate.”
The Space Camp program can be accessed by the same student over several years and each year is more educationally intense. The camp creed is "just because I can't see the stars, doesn't mean I can't reach for them" and Sarim is embracing the opportunity.
“Knowledge is the gateway to success,” Sarim says. “Gaining knowledge is something that can change your perception of how you view the world. I would definitely love to go to the space camp over the years to gather more knowledge and use it to benefit not only me but those around me.”
If anyone is interested in donating to Sarim's adventure, send a cheque to College Heights Secondary School, 6180 Domano Blvd, Prince George, BC V2N3Z4 c/o Belinda Rappel. Please mark cheque payable to College Heights Secondary, c/o Belinda Rappel. Also mark cheque with allocation: Space Camp for Students with Visual Impairments. Cash or debit donations can also be made in person at the school's office.
