It is quite possible that Milene Morfei would never have earned her Ph.D if she did not lose her sight.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Wells College Professor Milene Morfei speaks to her Environmental Problems and Human Behavior class Thursday afternoon. Morfei will be honored at a fundraiser for AURORA of Central New York, a nonprofit organization determined to help deaf, blind, visually impaired and people hard of hearing.
Wells College Professor Milene Morfei speaks to her Environmental Problems and Human Behavior class Thursday afternoon. Morfei will be honored at a fundraiser for AURORA of Central New York, a nonprofit organization determined to help deaf, blind, visually impaired and people hard of hearing.
When the Wells College psychology professor was in high school, she was interested in a career that wouldn't take much time and would allow her to have a social life.
In her early 20s, she started to climb her way up the corporate ladder at an office in Auburn. But then she started seeing odd things at work.
“If I was looking at a row of figures, there would be little missing spaces,” Morfei said.
Morfei, of Scipio Center, was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease, a form of macular degeneration, at the age of 23. By the time she was 28, her vision had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer work.
And yet, Morfei eventually went back to school and completed graduate studies at Syracuse University. On Thursday, she will give back to the organization which helped her along the way - AURORA of CNY Inc.
The Syracuse-based group serves visually and hearing impaired individuals throughout central New York, and assisted Morfei after her diagnosis by providing visual aids.
AURORA's Sixth annual Musical Feast for the Eyes and Ears will take place in Skaneateles Falls, and Morfei will speak at the event. The evening will also include dinner, dancing, music by Mere Mortals and a silent auction with gift baskets, getaways, jewelry and more.
After Morfei was unable to work, she saw an ophthalmologist who could not help her, she said.
“I asked what he could give me to make me see better, and he sort of admonished me for even asking the question,” she said. “He said, ‘You see that little boy out in the hall? He is totally blind. He has a reason to be complaining.'”
She went to another doctor, who referred her to AURORA, which was called Lighthouse at the time. There, she got access to the visual aids to get her through each day.
She has special reading glasses, which allow her to read by holding the material close to her face. There is a monocular, which allows her to see things at a distance. She also uses a machine that can magnify the text on a book.
But even then, Morfei was not ready to go back to school, she said. When she lost her vision, she lost a lot of confidence. She had to “find herself” again before returning to college.
“I was worried about if I could do it, and I was wary about using the visual aids in public,” Morfei said. “But about halfway through my youngest daughter#'s second year in school, I thought I was going to lose it. I needed something productive to do.”
Morfei, who had earned a secretarial degree at Cayuga Community College, decided to go back to the school and earn credits for a full associate degree at 35. She then went to Well's College in Aurora for her bachelor's degree and Syracuse for her master's and doctorate.
The subject of choice was psychology, as Morfei finds people ± and the reasons they do the things they do - to be “endlessly interesting.”
But being back in school was not the most seamless transition for Morfei. She was forced to face her visual impairment on the first day of her first class back.
The professor was using a typical name game to break the ice. The students sat in a half-circle, with each one saying their name and the name of each student who had gone before them.
The exercise did not touch on Morfei's strengths, she said.
“I am sitting there and I can feel the heat in my face. I was freaking out,” Morfei said. “They got to me, and I say I have a visual issue and, quite frankly, I can't even see the people on the other side of the room. So, there is no way I am going to be able to do this.”
The professor told her to wing it, she said. She fumbled through it, but not without some angst.
“I went up to him after class and told him I was madder than hell when he did that,” Morfei said. “But it was out there. I survived it, and it was no big deal. Yes, people stared and wondered. But that is what you have to do.”
Today, Morfei still has challenges. The job takes a lot of reading, which is more cumbersome for her than most people.
But she faces the situation with humor and straightforwardness. In the classroom, she jokes with her students and says that she can “make their faces disappear.”
On the Wells campus and when out and about, she tells people not to take it personally if she walks by them without recognizing them.
Morfei also said she is extremely fortunate to be working at a small, teaching-based university that allows her to thrive. The same place that allowed her to thrive as a nervous undergrad.
“This place is amazing,” Morfei said of Wells. “They really saw the potential in me and looked beyond the visual issue. Now I want to be one of the people who helps students realize their potential.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
If you go
What: AURORA's Sixth annual Musical Feast for the Eyes and Ears
When: From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, May 8
Where: The Lodge at Welch Allyn in Skaneateles Falls
For information on attending:
Call AURORA at 422-7263 or (TDD 422-9746)
In her early 20s, she started to climb her way up the corporate ladder at an office in Auburn. But then she started seeing odd things at work.
“If I was looking at a row of figures, there would be little missing spaces,” Morfei said.
Morfei, of Scipio Center, was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease, a form of macular degeneration, at the age of 23. By the time she was 28, her vision had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer work.
And yet, Morfei eventually went back to school and completed graduate studies at Syracuse University. On Thursday, she will give back to the organization which helped her along the way - AURORA of CNY Inc.
The Syracuse-based group serves visually and hearing impaired individuals throughout central New York, and assisted Morfei after her diagnosis by providing visual aids.
AURORA's Sixth annual Musical Feast for the Eyes and Ears will take place in Skaneateles Falls, and Morfei will speak at the event. The evening will also include dinner, dancing, music by Mere Mortals and a silent auction with gift baskets, getaways, jewelry and more.
After Morfei was unable to work, she saw an ophthalmologist who could not help her, she said.
“I asked what he could give me to make me see better, and he sort of admonished me for even asking the question,” she said. “He said, ‘You see that little boy out in the hall? He is totally blind. He has a reason to be complaining.'”
She went to another doctor, who referred her to AURORA, which was called Lighthouse at the time. There, she got access to the visual aids to get her through each day.
She has special reading glasses, which allow her to read by holding the material close to her face. There is a monocular, which allows her to see things at a distance. She also uses a machine that can magnify the text on a book.
But even then, Morfei was not ready to go back to school, she said. When she lost her vision, she lost a lot of confidence. She had to “find herself” again before returning to college.
“I was worried about if I could do it, and I was wary about using the visual aids in public,” Morfei said. “But about halfway through my youngest daughter#'s second year in school, I thought I was going to lose it. I needed something productive to do.”
Morfei, who had earned a secretarial degree at Cayuga Community College, decided to go back to the school and earn credits for a full associate degree at 35. She then went to Well's College in Aurora for her bachelor's degree and Syracuse for her master's and doctorate.
The subject of choice was psychology, as Morfei finds people ± and the reasons they do the things they do - to be “endlessly interesting.”
But being back in school was not the most seamless transition for Morfei. She was forced to face her visual impairment on the first day of her first class back.
The professor was using a typical name game to break the ice. The students sat in a half-circle, with each one saying their name and the name of each student who had gone before them.
The exercise did not touch on Morfei's strengths, she said.
“I am sitting there and I can feel the heat in my face. I was freaking out,” Morfei said. “They got to me, and I say I have a visual issue and, quite frankly, I can't even see the people on the other side of the room. So, there is no way I am going to be able to do this.”
The professor told her to wing it, she said. She fumbled through it, but not without some angst.
“I went up to him after class and told him I was madder than hell when he did that,” Morfei said. “But it was out there. I survived it, and it was no big deal. Yes, people stared and wondered. But that is what you have to do.”
Today, Morfei still has challenges. The job takes a lot of reading, which is more cumbersome for her than most people.
But she faces the situation with humor and straightforwardness. In the classroom, she jokes with her students and says that she can “make their faces disappear.”
On the Wells campus and when out and about, she tells people not to take it personally if she walks by them without recognizing them.
Morfei also said she is extremely fortunate to be working at a small, teaching-based university that allows her to thrive. The same place that allowed her to thrive as a nervous undergrad.
“This place is amazing,” Morfei said of Wells. “They really saw the potential in me and looked beyond the visual issue. Now I want to be one of the people who helps students realize their potential.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
If you go
What: AURORA's Sixth annual Musical Feast for the Eyes and Ears
When: From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, May 8
Where: The Lodge at Welch Allyn in Skaneateles Falls
For information on attending:
Call AURORA at 422-7263 or (TDD 422-9746)
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