Kathleen Dusing

"I came to Sauk extremely nervous because I never got the proper accommodation at [the first college I tried].” Kathleen is legally blind, and new environments can be daunting.

To acclimate herself, she walked through Sauk with her seeing eye dog, Pasha. “It felt very homey,” Kathleen shared. The first weeks were tough, but she persevered with help from Sauk staff like Keith Bos and Jane Hamilton. Added Kathleen, “It was very family oriented.”

Kathleen graduated from Sauk in 2006 with honors and an associate’s degree in special education. Kathleen also won a spot on the prestigious All-USA Community College First Team, one of only 20 community college students in the country that year to achieve this.

Kathleen later graduated from Northern Illinois University in special education with an emphasis in visual impairment.