By Kyle Odegard
Three years ago, Shaun Reimers enrolled at Oregon State University because he knew he needed to change his career. An illustrator who drew storyboards for Nickleodeon cartoons and video games, he was living his childhood dream.
But a family history of blindness has pursued Reimers for most of his life. He has known since he was 5 that he has retinitis pigmentosa - a genetic disease in which the body slowly attacks and kills eye cells. He didn't let the inevitable prevent him from pursuing and realizing his ambitions as an artist.
However, the illness progressed, slowly but steadily. His vision blackened first around the edges, then ever-faster toward the center.
The 34-year-old is headed for a different profession. He is among the graduate candidates poised to receive a degree Sunday in OSU graduation ceremonies at Reser Stadium.
Reimers' degree is in psychology. And although he's legally blind with a small pocket of sight left, he plans to soon earn a graduate degree at the University of Utah.
"I thought counseling would be a good career for someone with a visual impairment," Reimers said. "The job can be done vocally. I also have an interest in psychology, so it was a natural fit for me. That's a job I could think of I could do while I was blind.
"I'm a fully capable person. I wouldn't want to stay home and waste away. … I definitely don't want to stop working."
The transition has been hard, but Reimers has had plenty of time to prepare.
Other family members went blind at about 40, so "You just know it's coming," Reimers said.
He credits the Oregon Commission for the Blind for providing him with a closed circuit camera to enlarge reading text at his house, voice-recognition software and other equipment that has made his studies easier.
He wasn't shy about seeking help, and giving his sight a boost. For example, Reimers brought thick black whiteboard pens to give to professors who were writing with worn-out or low-contrast colored markers.
Reimers moved to Corvallis because his wife, Celestial Bakken, was transferring from Portland Community College to OSU for its dietetics program. He had taken some psychology courses at the University of Washington in the 1990s, before art became his full-time job.
The couple met in Portland five years ago.
"A friend of mine told me about his vision before we went out on a first date," said Bakken, 27, who also is graduating from OSU.
As they had walked to a bowling alley after dinner, Reimers stumbling a bit because of his poor night vision, and she grabbed his arm to guide him.
"It was nice," Reimers said.
They married three years ago and have a 1-year-old daughter, Meadow Bakken-Reimers. Meadow carries the gene for retinitis pigmentosa, but doctors say that she won't lose her sight to it.
The tiny girl has been a blessing, but she's also made the year more tumultuous. Reimers said he developed ulcers from the pressures of being a father, his studies, finances and his worsening blindness.
In September, his deteriorating vision finally forced Reimers to quit his dream storyboarding job, and he accepted the change.
"I focused on the new thing."
Reimers thinks he'll have some vision left, maybe for five or 10 years. Promising new therapies are being researched that could stall the degeneration or even reverse it. But there are no guarantees.
So the young father is practicing with a cane, learning how to use devices that read text aloud and otherwise preparing for a future of total blindness. For now, his tunnel vision enables him to see a small section of a normal person's view clearly, as if through the middle of a telescope, so that he can focus on something as long as it isn't moving.
He takes mental snapshots, trying to burn images into his mind. He looks most often at what matters most to him.
"Especially of my daughter. Just trying to capture the way she looks. And my wife."
Andy Darkins
Age: 23
Hometown: Lake Oswego
Major: Political science
Claim to fame: Played linebacker for OSU for three years, part of two bowl game wins
Other activities: ASOSU senator, Student Athlete Advisory Committee
Plans: Running a Gresham Democrat's campaign for the Oregon House. May one day seek office himself.
Best experience at OSU: "Probably getting injured and having to quit football. It was my most difficult experience, but it really forced me to grow up and mature." It also enabled him to study abroad in Greece and at Oxford and to take a term off to work on a political campaign.
Advice for freshmen: "Try as many diverse and different activities as you can. Don't pigeonhole yourself into one thing. And study. Really work to expand your intellect."
Jason Ludden
Age: 28
Hometown: Madison, Wis.
Major: Creative writing
Claim to fame: The grad student is finishing his first novel, "May We All Wake Up One by One," where an aid worker in west Africa ends up on the wrong side of the law.
Other activities: Coached OSU Ultimate Frisbee, taught writing classes
Plans: Lecturer at the University of Nevada at Reno, hopes to one day teach writing at a Willamette Valley college.
Best experience at OSU: "The open-door policy applies to more than the office at OSU," said Ludden, who enjoyed hanging out at professors' houses on the back porch, talking about life and writing.
Advice for incoming students: "Get outside your department. Go to Bomb's on a Tuesday night and Squirrel's on Thursday and Friday."
Ben Sherrett
Age: 24
Hometown: Stanfield
Major: Double major in education and mechanical engineering
Claim to fame: Student teacher at Crescent Valley, took first place at OSU Engineering Expo for music machine
Other activities: OSU crew team member for two years, youth basketball coach
Plans: Marrying Jen Hester this summer in Bend, taking a year off, which will include teaching in Chile for four months, then graduate school. Sherrett eventually hopes to become a physics teacher.
Best experience at OSU: "The thing I enjoyed about Oregon State was the people. I've had amazing friends. … I met my fiancé in a calculus class as a freshman, so that was a pretty awesome experience, too."
Advice for freshmen: "There are so many different opportunities here. Stay open minded. If there's something you're interested in, you have the opportunity to pursue it, and you should."
Noah Strycker
Age: 22
Hometown: Creswell
Major: Fisheries and wildlife
Claim to fame: Ornithological researcher, writer and visual artist (His license plate is BRD BOY)
Other activities: OSU Tennis Club president, associate editor of Birding, Wildlife Magazine columnist
Plans: From July through November, he'll intern in a captive breeding program for endangered land birds in Hawaii. Then it's off to Antarctica to study penguins for four months. He hopes to continue with short term field work for a few years before graduate school.
Best experience at OSU: "I did two study abroad programs. One was in Ecuador, and the other was in Australia and Fiji. I got to go snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands for class."
Taralyn "Tari" Tan
Age: 21
Hometown: Salem
Major: Biochemistry/biophysics
Claim to fame: Named by USA Today as second team all-American scholar, started sorority for women science majors, Sigma Delta Omega
Other activities: Japanese Student Association, Sunday school teacher and youth soccer coach
Plans: Moving with her boyfriend to Boston to work with a researcher in Harvard's neuroscience program. She plans to apply for Harvard's graduate school in two years to further study neuroscience.
Best experience at OSU: "My favorite part has kind of been this journey. … I was able to make a transition to something I'm passionate about," said the former pre-med student.
Advice for freshmen: "You really want to take time to explore all your interests, even if it's on a whim."
Advice for freshmen: "Pursue extracurricular activities. Your class work is important and you need to keep your grades up, but your best memories come outside of class time."