Matthew Johnson has been blind since birth but it hasn’t stopped him from achieving.The 24-year-old speaks four languages and recently graduated from the UK’s University of Law, with distinction.He spent the summer working with the Human Rights Commission — one of 150 students honoured at a reception yesterday by Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy for their participation in the Department of Workforce Development’s summer employment programme.“Everyone has difficulties they have to overcome in their own lives,” said the St George’s resident, whose blindness was caused by a severely damaged optic nerve. “My parents and extended family have always been very supportive of whatever I set my mind to doing and they went through hell and back to make sure I had the tools to achieve those goals.”Mr Johnson was assisted by a para educator while studying at St George’s Prep and Warwick Academy.“I cannot speak highly enough of the efforts made by Warwick Academy to make their facilities and schoolwork accessible,” he said. “The teachers were fantastic. I had a teacher for the visually impaired with me throughout that five-year period and she made sure that things ran smoothly. She was great at what she did and it was not an easy process — books and worksheets needed to be put into Braille or onto computer so that I could access them all in time for class. But we got there in the end.”He used audio books to help him through higher education, with most of his work completed electronically.He spent a year in Spain and Germany while pursuing an undergraduate degree in modern languages and is now fluent in his native English, French, Spanish and German.“It is safe to say that I’m not missing out by virtue of my blindness,” he stated. “I have software on a normal computer that renders everything into speech, basically, the computer reads out everything on the screen. My iPhone has GPS capabilities which help with navigation in the UK [and] there are also apps for things like reading restaurant menus and identifying bills from a wallet. So between a normal computer with adaptive software and an iPhone, I get by.”His job at the Commission entailed a great deal of research, Mr Johnson said.“My experiences at the Commission have been entirely positive. This has been my second summer working with them and I have enjoyed it immensely. I was always made to be a part of the team. My research was valued and I was always encouraged to speak up with ideas and questions to be considered.“[My work was] based in the law of various jurisdictions, usually Canada or the UK in addition to Bermuda. I would be asked to brief the team about, for example, how employers should deal with employees who become pregnant, or how an employer should make arrangements for a disabled employee to be accommodated in the workplace.”His goal is to specialise in employment law at an international company. Mr Johnson will return to the UK to train with a law firm next month.Asked whether he planned to return home to work, he said: “In Bermuda, many people still struggle to look past disability and see the actual person beneath. I know that a number of disabled people have advised me to leave the Island, since the idea that I would be able to get a good job here seems farcical to them. I hope that in the future, young Bermudians who happen to have a disability will be given the same access to jobs and public facilities as those without a disability — it is possible.”His advice to people interested in studying law: “Build up your CV as soon as possible. Start when you’re 16 and get as much work as you can — if not legal work, then retail or business experience. Also, show your soft skills. I play guitar, for example. That is not relevant to a career in law, but when I say that, the interviewers know that I’m confident on a stage, talking to people and that I’m not nervous in a public setting, which is important for a lawyer.”Students pursuing a variety of careers, such as medicine, nursing, law, accounting and international business, took part in this year’s programme, which offered jobs through a partnership between government and the private sector.“This year we had some exceptional young people who truly embraced this work experience opportunity,” Mr Fahy said. “I can honestly say that we have some very talented, passionate, bright and creative young people who are very eager to take their place in the Bermuda workforce once they have completed their studies.” Constance Dawes, a student at Southern University in Tennessee, interned at Court Services.“It’s nice learning the resources that we have available in Bermuda,” she said. “It’s also been a pleasure learning about the different methods we can use to solve those problems. It was interesting. You learn the good with the politics. In general this experience has made me more aware of my field.”