Korey Singleton

Korey Singleton left his home in Maryland for Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., carrying a football scholarship and the desire “to go to the best academic institution I could go to.” He graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering and later received a master's degree.

I've been with the state for four years. I was living in Chicago and I wanted to come back east and be closer to my family and that's when I checked out the state Web site for government jobs. I found my job on the Web site and everything worked out pretty well.

I like working for the state. I knew nothing about Virginia when I moved out here and it's truly been a blessing in disguise. I've met some of the greatest people in my world. Everybody's real down to earth, really caring. You don't run into any selfish people in this field. Here, everybody bends over backwards to help people get back on their feet.

What is a typical day like?

Every day is a challenge. I'm always on the road, covering 15 counties in Northern Virginia, deciding what are my clients able to do and not do, seeing how a disability affects a person. My job is to figure out what technology will allow the person to be what he or she wants to be. Working on how they can access a computer, interact with professors, finding more efficient ways for people to interact with others.

The most difficult part of the job is dealing with people who not only have vision problems but other issues. The individual is faced with the reality that their vision will never be the same and that how they're completely dependent on family and friends. The psychological victory is in getting individuals to a point where they say ‘Yes, I can see, but in a different way.' If I can get that positive attitude back, then I feel I have won.

What makes this work valuable?

People have to understand how important small things are. I see it every day, how we help people have a tremendous quality of life, how they interact with their families, peers, how they're able to do their jobs.

A lot of these individuals would not be working and contributing without the state's help to get them back on their feet. The funny thing is, I'm around people every day who felt that providing these services wasn't any of the state's business - until they lost their vision. Those who were the biggest opponents are now the biggest advocates.

What are your future plans?

My strength is helping people. I need to remain challenged and working with computers, everything changes all the time. I feel like I'm always learning and the technology side allows me to remain challenged.