Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: Second Chance
Second Chance
May 15, 2007
With an uncanny wit and innate thirst for knowledge, 15-year-old Bob Brophy entered his freshman year of high school in 1947 poised for success at the esteemed St. Mary’s School in South Saint Louis City.
He dropped out a year later.
So what happened? At nine years old, Brophy was diagnosed with juvenile macular degeneration, one of the foremost causes of adult blindness. By the age of 16, his eyesight was limited to peripheral vision, and even that came and went in bits and pieces.
Back then, special assistance for students who were blind was meager at best. Government help—such as Missouri’s Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, an organization that aims to create opportunities for those with vision impairments—was, well, non-existent. And computer-assisted technology for the blind didn’t surface for another half-century.
So with few resources to aid him, Brophy said farewell to formal education.
Times have changed.
Now at a spry 74 years old, Brophy recently achieved what was for decades unimaginable. In May, the blind grandpa from Hillsboro, Mo., graduated from MBU with a bachelor of arts in behavioral science. And he did it with a 4.0 GPA.
“I truly consider this a second chance,” said Brophy shortly before he went to class at MBU’s Jefferson College Extension one January day. “I want people to understand that I am capable of the very best.”
Brophy’s made a life out of proving people wrong.
Despite a fair share of naysayers, he was determined to make a living for himself after he left high school—regardless of his disability. In 2002, he retired after managing the cafeteria at Jefferson College for 35 years.
He had plans to have a family—regardless of his disability. Today, he’s been married for 35 years and has two children and four grandchildren.
So, when he decided to pursue an education—despite his disability and age—he knew he’d have some skeptics. He didn’t care, though.
“As a person with a disability, opportunity is what I need,” Brophy said. “And I knew I just couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.”
Opportunity is what he got. Today, Brophy uses computer software that audibly reads content, which “opens up a world that was closed to me for so many years,” he said. State assistance provides transportation to and from class and a host of other resources. The Disability Support Services of Jefferson College, which MBU contracts with, provides him with a bevy of resources—from personal tutoring to computer assistance.
But all the resources in the world can’t help with determination. That is one of Brophy’s innate qualities, at least according to his grandson, 24-year-old Jason White. White and Brophy graduated together in 2004 with associate degrees from Jefferson College.
“I think going to school with him helped me to realize how inspirational he is,” said White, who had an English class with his grandfather during his freshman year of college. “He’s just someone I look up to because of everything he has been through. He’s pretty inspirational.”
Brophy’s not slowing down yet. He has already begun taking classes toward MBU’s master of science in education in counselor education. Once Brophy reaches that milestone, he is hoping to work for an agency that will allow him to help empower children with disabilities with the message that “anything is doable.”
What about retirement? “A lot of cohorts from my age group sit and do nothing. I think everyone should stay engaged,” Brophy said. “I want to stay engaged. I like the challenge of coming to school. I look forward to this.”
Besides, he’s on a mission.
“As a person with a disability, I have a responsibility to demonstrate that I can perform on the same or higher level than anyone else,” Brophy said. “Ever since I was diagnosed with macular degeneration, I’ve had to prove to people that I am capable. To be inadequate will only reinforce stereotypes.”
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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