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Talawanda High School freshman Sean O'Donnel may be blind, but has his sights on the world and a bright, eventful future.

O'Donnel envisions himself as a bagpiper and a chef in the future. But for now, he is envisioning math equations and science experiments within the walls of THS.

O'Donnel, who was born with his visual impairment, studied at the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus, a specialty institute for vision-impaired individuals, before entering the Talawanda School District two years ago.

"I had to stay up there all night Sunday through Friday and I got home on the weekends," he said. "But I just got really homesick. I missed my hometown in Oxford and hated the 2½-hour drives."

According to O'Donnel, his educational experience at THS so far has been "perfect," crediting his academic success to the people around him.

One of those people is THS educational assistant Kim Birchfield, who works directly with O'Donnel and accompanies him to class.

"Miss Kim helps me with different things I need help with, like the balancing of chemical equations or helping me get around the school without bumping into anybody," O'Donnel said. "Plus, if I do all my homework over the weekend, which I've been doing a couple of times, she'll reward me by looking up some clips online. We always get fun stuff on Fridays."

According to Birchfield, the THS community has been accommodating of O'Donnel's needs, which is a reason for his academic success.

"The school, as a whole, is very aware of Sean, who he is and his needs," Birchfield said. "It has been neat to see all these different people come together to work for one student. All these people come together to make sure Sean is getting a good education and learning everything he needs to learn."

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