Why I decided to get a guide dog

I have been blind my entire life, and when I was about six years old I began using a white cane to get me from place to place safely. I relied on my cane for several years all the way through high school. Growing up I had not ever thought of getting a guide dog. I felt that a dog would be too much responsibility, after all you don’t have to feed a cane, you can leave it anywhere and it doesn’t matter. I did ok using my cane, so why would I want to change anything. This all changed one day during my junior year of high school.
I was becoming more independent with my cane, crossing streets, riding the bus in Charlotte, and I felt pretty confident using a cane. One day I was in downtown Charlotte working on independently crossing lighted intersections. A blind person has to listen to the traffic at all times, and in listening to the traffic you will know when it is safe to cross. I had the light and went to cross, but I did not cross the street straight and did not end up where I could easily find the sidewalk. I was disoriented, and it took me a while to figure out how to get back on the sidewalk to continue to my destination.
A mobility instructor is trained on how to help blind or visually impaired individuals independently learn to travel from place to place safely. This particular time my instructor was with me, and once I found the sidewalk I was pretty frustrated. I then asked her if I was safer crossing a busy intersection with a guide dog. She told me that yes a guide dog was safer, in that the dog would not pull a person out into traffic, but the handler has to know when it is safe to cross. It was then that I decided I wanted a guide dog. I used to be scared of dogs because a big dog pushed me down when I was little. I knew a lady who allowed me to pet her guide dog, and the dog was so calm not trying to jump or anything. When I told my parents that I wanted a guide dog they couldn’t believe it but supported me. .
I wanted to wait until I had graduated from high school, and the summer between my junior and senior years I started researching guide dog schools. I applied to few, but in the end I chose to go to Southeastern Guide Dogs near Tampa Florida. I was accepted for training in the spring of my senior year, and one-week after my high school graduation I was on a plane to Florida to get a dog that would totally change my life.