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Alex Myers uses a walking cane to get around the Oklahoma Baptist University campus, but being legally blind has not deterred his path to a college degree. (Photo by Nick Oxford.)

 

Seeing The Bigger Picture

By Kali Westmoreland

 

Alex Myers is an active young man. The Oklahoma Baptist University sophomore is pursuing a degree in youth ministry and worship arts. He fills expected roles, like playing keyboard and singing for a campus worship band for the past year.

 

He is a normal college student who happens to be legally blind.

 

The Broken Arrow native was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when he was just 13 months old. The rare eye cancer usually affects children under the age of five. Diagnosed shortly after his first birthday, Alex said he “doesn’t ever remember seeing clearly.”

 

While other young children started elementary school in their local communities, Alex enrolled at the Oklahoma School for the Blind. The school is in Muskogee, about 40 miles from the Myers home. His parents, David and Lisa, worked to make sure Alex benefitted from the specialized school’s programs. He graduated from OSB in 2008, with plans to follow what he senses as God’s calling to a ministry career.

 

His college studies are tied to a childhood interest in “anything and everything to do with music.”

 

Alex enjoys writing worship songs and playing the piano and drums. In his second year with the worship band, he also serves as a leader for a freshman discipleship group, and recently joined the university’s renowned Bison Glee Club.

 

Alex admits that there have been many challenges over the years. Everyday moments that many take for granted require added effort for him. Coming to college brought some of the biggest obstacles.

 

“One of those being having trouble finding textbooks in formats that I can read,” he said. “In these classes, I pray for the Lord to take control, and I do the very best I can in that situation.”

 

Myers approaches the challenging moments with a positive attitude and a willing spirit.

 

“Smaller challenges are things like learning to get around in a new environment, and recognizing people who speak to me while walking down the hall,” he explained. “Another challenge that I have faced since I was 16 is the fact that I can’t drive.”

 

He relies on a faith which has grown through adversity to carry him as a college student. He is quick to cite Philippians 4:13 as a biblical foundation for living.

 

“Regardless of these challenges, I know that through Christ all things are possible and I can lean on him for strength,” Alex said.

 

A professing Christian since the age of 10, Alex was ordained to the gospel ministry in January 2010. That ordination, bestowed by his home church, was a public affirmation by people who had seen him overcome life’s hurdles.

 

He does not call his blindness an impairment, but rather an “inconvenience.”

 

“Other than having limited vision in one eye, I am as normal as they come,” he said.

 

He has transformed inconvenience into opportunity.

 

“Because of my story I have been able to be a witness of Christ through it,” he added.

 

“My plan is to follow where God leads me, whether that is working in a church, on the mission field, or anywhere else,” he said.

 

“I hope to have a family and children to love just as my parents loved me, and be able to raise them in the Lord.”

 

UPCOMING BOARD MEETINGS

Thursday, January 26, 2012 -10:00 am - Oklahoma Christian University (Gaylord Room)

Thursday, April 19, 2012 -10:00 am - State Capitol, room TBD

                *Students events begin at 8:30 am

UPCOMING BUSINESS OFFICERS MEETINGS