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In the 70s I was a single parent raising a female child, which was totally unheard of. And then I was riding my motorcycle to the eye doctor one and he told me I was going blind. I was 28.

Author/Speaker

<p>After arriving in Las Vegas, Nev., the Roadtrippers meet up with Rex Doty, a toy maker that creates toys for children in need, who inspires the team through his passion for giving. Next, the team heads to the restaurant Rick Moonen's rm Seafood to speak with none other than its charismatic chef and owner, Rick Moonen. Afterward, the team gets back on the road where-after taking in the picturesque scenery at the Grand Canyon-they head to Phoenix, Ariz., to speak with Larry Colbert, a blind motivational speaker and author. The Roadtrippers hear Larry's moving story of overcoming obstacles to do what made him happy, despite others not believing in him. </p>

Las Vegas - Phoenix

First semester accounting, I had 99 average. That means I missed one question, out of all those others. Second semester accounting I had a 98. I took statistics, I had an A, but couldn't see the board. He said, we need to get you a tutor. I said, I don't need a tutor. He said, I know you don't need a tutor, you're on the dammed dean's list he says, but you can't see the board, you need somebody to describe it for you. At this time there were no disabled student resources, so we go to the tutor and he says he doesn't qualify, his grade point average is too high. And the professor says look, he's not stupid, he just can't see the board. He needs somebody to help him, okay, write his notes and so forth. So they agreed, and I kept insisting that I didn't need this help, and he said to me these words, Mister Goldberg, when somebody wants to give you something, you take it. Because they give it to you because they want to. Imagine if you gave your children Christmas gifts and they gave them back and said they didn't want them, how would you feel? Profound words. So when somebody gives me something, I express extreme gratitude and thanks, because they want to give, they want to give it to you. And when I give it to someone and they say, oh you didn't have to do this I said, look, I don't have to do anything in this life. I did this because I wanted to. 

Support & Encouragement

Accept Gifts

(Roadtripper #2)  Hello? (Roadtripper #1)  Hello! (Larry)  You are Hannah. (Hannah)  Hannah. (Larry)  I'm Larry. (Hannah) Great to meet you. We're all gonna be faced with hardships in our lives and it's just like how we deal with it, and I feel like that we could learn a lot from him because he lost his sight and he still is so positive. (Larry) Well I don't see where I'm going, so if I'm heading your way, holler. [everyone laughing] (Larry) In the 70s, I was a single parent raising a female chid, which is totally unheard of at this time. And then uh, rode my motorcycle to the eye doctor's one day and he told me I had to stop driving because I was going blind. (Roadtripper) And how old were you? (Larry)  Twenty-eight. The fear that I faced was could I support my daughter. Would I be able to get a job, and if so, what kind of job could I get, and could I be happy in all those things? And as a person who was divorced, I would've liked to find another partner, you know? Who's gonna go out with a 30-year-old blind guy? That was my theory. And I find out that a heck of a lot of 'em would. [laughing] And it didn't have anything to do with the eyesight, you know, but aside from that, uh, those are some of the fears that I faced. Interacting with society and wanting to be accepted as a person and not as a blind person. (Hannah) Did you ever feel like, you know, not being able to see, put you behind? (Larry) I went to, um, Arizona State University at 40 years old with my first guide dog. I was a little bit scared. (Hannah) What were you afraid of? (Larry) Well, I was af-, first of all, at that point, I couldn't see anything to write. I couldn't read the textbooks, but they did have a disabled student resource center. I could take these handouts there and they would record 'em on tape. Let me pause a second. Come here, Banner. Come here. Sit, sit. Down. Good boy. (Roadtripper #2) That's a good dog there. (Larry) Oh yeah. Better than my kids usually. (roadtrippers laughing) (Larry)  Back to where we were. My fear at college was that I wouldn't be able to compete at the same level as sighted people. We have to work twice as hard or three times as hard just to be equal. I went to school, and I had a tape recorder with me, and I tape recorded the class. It was a big ol' honkin' thing, not these little gadgets we got today. I would come home from school that day, and I would sit down and listen to that tape again and I would type that information into my computer. I just had this deep desire to show the world that just because I can't see, I can do this. And I can do it just as good, if not better than anybody else. The biggest disappointment was when I graduated. 'Cause nowhere on my resume did it say I was blind. I walked into that first interview and the guy interviews me. He says, "This job involves nationwide travel. If I were blind, I don't know how I could do it." I told him, "Do you remember where I was "when you phoned me for this interview? "I was in New Mexico. "Just me and my dog. "It's nationwide. How do you think I got there?" So you were, you will in your life face people that will continually tell you you can't do something. And I'll tell you this: you just show 'em what you can do. Don't worry about what they tell you you can't do; show 'em what you can do. (Hannah)  Wet paint. Do not touch. (Larry) Oh my granddaughter did that. She was paintin' the inside of the floor black. (Hannah) Man, it must be really fun to work on this with your grandchildren. (Larry) Mmhmm. Yeah, it'd be more fun if I could drive it, but I always did enjoy building 'em. Now I get to ride it. (Hannah laughs) (Larry) And I spoke to conventions and conferences and all these kinds of things, and once I, the very first time I was in this, in this um, meeting--and first time this ever happened-- and a man said to me, "May I talk to you for a few minutes?" "Sure, come on in." " I work with a man who has the same eye disease as you do. " We worked at the factory for a long time. " He won't leave his house now. " He doesn't go anywhere, he mopes around, whatever. Would you talk to him?" I talked to this man, and he asked me a lot of questions and so forth and so on. Three years later, I was at a convention in San Diego, and this guy chased me down. "Well I gotta tell you something," he said. "After you talked to my buddy, I went over there and "we had a visit, and he decided he was gonna go get some skills "training and all these kinda things. " And he's got a dog, and now he is never home! " He gets up in the morning, he goes to the coffee shop, "he chose the, you know, same ol' scuttlebutt "with the guys down there. "They just yak yak yak all the time and he gets back home by himself, picks up his mail." No, you know, I didn't get a paycheck. I didn't get a paycheck that day for speaking at that conference; it was a volunteer thing. But Wendel signed my paycheck that day in San Diego, when he told me that that guy was affected by what my message said. And if you go through life just touching one or two people every now and then and make a difference in their life, then you're a success. You're a success. (young girl)  Hey Grandpa! This way! (Larry) Left, right, left, right? (young girl) Well you don't even know which way you're going! [everyone laughing] (Larry) I could sit here and tell you how I wish I could see your smiling face or how pretty that dog is or how lovely my back garden is, but what good does it do focusing on what you can't see? You got to focus on what you can do. Don't let anybody tell you what you can't do. You show 'em what you can do. Nika, you show 'em what you can do when you find out what you wanna be the rest of your life. Antoine, you can do the same thing. And you, you Hannah, too. Okay? (Hannah) From here over, you have space. (Larry) Over here? (Hannah)  Yes. (Larry) Your roadtrip will take you on to much success. Carpe diem. Seize the day. (Antoine) Awesome. Thank you, sir. (Larry) You're welcome, Antoine. Little Hannah? (Hannah) Thank you! (Larry) You sound like you're the boss. (Hannah)  No, no, no. (Larry) So in our lives, we're gonna go through a lot of stuff. And you just have to get to the other side and keep smiling. (Antoine) Well I'm smiling right now. (Larry) That's a good thing. That's a very good thing. (Hannah) I'm smiling, too. 

Interview

I define and identify myself as a happy individual, comfortable in my skin, comfortable with my disabilities. >> That's so hard sometimes. >> It is hard, but you're young. You're young. And you've got your whole life ahead of you, every single one of you in this room. And there's nothing that's gonna hold you back, except you. Nothing but you. I could tell you stories and stories and stories about things that I have done in my life that just amazed the heck out of people. So you will find things that you will do in your life that would amaze the heck out some people and you don't need to identify why or how or the what for. Just do it and feel good and know that you can do it. You can do anything! You can do anything! 

Confidence

Individualism

Define Yourself

If you, anyone, perceives that that family member is holding you back, then it's time to move on. It's time to say, this is my life. And I respect you and the way you raised me and all the things you did for me when I was young. But now I'm an adult, and it's my life, and these are the paths that I choose to live it. 

Courage

Family

It's My Life

Were you afraid? Afraid of getting lost or not being able to make it? >> No, I've got a big enough mouth and I can find just about any information I want. >> [LAUGH] >> When I traveled a lot, I flew first class because of lots of miles? >> Mm-hm. >> And you get the privileges, so I’m one of the first ones on the plane, and I’m one of the first ones off, cuz I’m usually right in the front. It’s a larger seat for the dog, and in first class they always put you in the bulkhead, so I was sitting there and this flight attendant came over, and she didn’t sound like she was much older than you. She tapped me on the shoulder and said, now honey you just stay right there and when everybody else is off the plane, I'll come get you and take you off. And I said, okay. So the plane landed, soon as it landed my dog was ready to rock-and-roll, I reached up, got my bags, said come on lets go, Arrow. Out the door we went, and [SOUND] up the jetway, and I'm standing up there waiting. So they said, can I help you? And I said, well I need to get to my next gate, where is it? And she said, oh it's not very far, it's down this way about five gates on the right. And this happened multiple times, but this is the one incident I'm recalling. And so she said well if you wait here, when everybody's off the plane, I'll get somebody to help you. I said, okay, thanks. I said Arrow, right, took off down the jetway. I'm walking along, he's taking me around the luggage and the people, and past them Cinnabons, and all that stuff. So I get down there a ways and I stop and say excuse me am I close to gate 14. And, this is very typical of people, oh, yeah, it's right over there. Well, you close your eyes and tell me where right over there is. So, I said, could you be a little specific? Is it on my left, or my right? He said, it's on your left, probably in about 30 feet there's an opening and it'll take you right up to the gate counter. I said thank you. So I went about 30 feet, told the dog left left, he went left, I said find the counter, he took me right up to the ticket counter, and there I was. Big mouth gets you there. >> Mm-hm. >> I'm not about waiting for somebody and their incompetence, you know? You just have to be assertive sometimes in your life. 

Determination

Perseverance

Big Mouth Gets You There

I think success is an individual thing. It's not necessarily money, or materialism, or a fabulous career. It's something you carry in yourself. It's your self-worth. It's your self-esteem. It's how you're treated by other people because of the way you treat them. It's happiness. That is feeling comfortable with who you are, and what you do, and why you do it. 

Success

Definition of Success

I'm very impressed that you are embarking on this nationwide trip. This is quite an adventure. Everybody needs an adventure in their life. Mine was getting on a bus and traveling across country with a white stick all by myself. Scared the bejiminies out of me, but I did it. But it was an adventure and all the people I met along the way. So you're on an adventure right now. And you're on an adventure to seek yourselves and find out, I guess, Antwon said it what you want to be when you grow up, or the rest of your life, or whatever. And I've been through that myself. The advice that I would give you is as you go on this adventure, and you talk to the different people, the chef, the lady with the record store, me, others, think about the diversity. See diversity's a beautiful thing. Wouldn't it be awful if we were all the same? Bunch of clones running around? It would be just not a nice place to live. Everybody would be the same. Would be boring. So you will find that somewhere on this adventure, someone's gonna touch you. And make you different inside, and cause you to think differently. And, maybe to tickle your inquisitive nature, so to speak. 

Take An Adventure

[LAUGH] >> I cannot sit here and give you a formula on how to live your life. Because all three of you are different. >> Mm-hm. >> None of you have a disability that I am aware of. Some may see ethnicity as a disability. Some may see size as a disability. An overweight person. On the other side of that a little person, a small person. Some of us have not as quick thought processes. Some of us aren't as dexterous with our hands. But that's all just non important. If you focus on the goal, you seek the information, and find the tools to help you, you can do it. That´s I guess the basic formula. That´s the formula for life, and avoid negativity, at all costs. 

Goals

Formula For Life

Information is, to me, the key to life. If I'm gonna do something in my life, I wanna know the best way to do it and then I approach that. So I seek information. Now the computer that's on that desk over there in my office is got a voice package on it. My cell phone has a package on it that will talk to me. >> Home 65 Crescent wireless. >> So you get information you get ways to use things and you use tools. All my life I worked on cars well from about age 15. And there are certain things that you cannot disassemble on an automobile unless you have a special tool. So were I going to be doing something like that I would want that information. In you're case your looking at things like maybe you might want to be into a field of say radio or television broadcast. Then you look around and find information about how to make that happen. So, by seeking information you can overcome those limitations and find alternative methods and means to accomplish your tasks. 

Exploration

Seek Information

In the 70s, I was a single parent raising a female chid. Rode my motorcycle to the eye doctor's one day and he told me I had to stop driving because I was going blind. [Roadtripper] And how old were you? [Larry] Twenty-eight. The fear that I faced was could I support my daughter. Would I be able to get a job, and if so, what kind of job could I get, and could I be happy in all those things? And to tell you the truth, if you have a disability or in any way feel um, um, put upon or less than equal to anyone--if you have something that causes you to feel that way--many times, we have to work twice as hard or three times as hard just to be equal. Just to be equal. And then once, and if you wanna excel, it's a phenomenal thing. 

Larry Colbert

Author/Speaker

Videos

Larry Colbert

Milestones

Education

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Education

Writing

Accomplishing Goals

Hurdles

Challenges I Overcame

Physical Issues