When Amanda Juetten crossed the graduation stage on May 9, the crowd erupted into applause. Hundreds of people stood to cheer. Cameras flashed. Families shouted with pride.

But Amanda couldn’t see any of it.

She only felt the gentle pull of her guide dog, Colonel, walking beside her… and the warmth of a dream she refused to let blindness steal.

At 47 years old — a mother of five, a grandmother, and a woman who had lost her vision completely — she was finally graduating magna cum laude from Tennessee Tech University.

Her journey to that stage did not begin with confidence.

It began with darkness.

A Dream Interrupted Before It Ever Began

Nearly 30 years ago, Amanda was just like any young woman stepping into adulthood — wide-eyed, hopeful, and ready to start college. But life had its own plan.

Straight out of high school, she became a mother. Suddenly, textbooks were replaced with baby bottles. Dorm rooms were replaced with late-night feedings. And the future she imagined for herself dimmed beneath the weight of responsibility.

“I had to work,” she said. “I had to provide. My dream just… paused.”

She would return to school eventually. But something much bigger than responsibility was coming for her — one slow, steady inch at a time.

The World Fades to Black

For years, Amanda lived with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that slowly eats away at a person’s vision. First, shadows crept in around the edges. Then faces became blurs. Then blurs became darkness.

By 2020, her world went completely black.

“I was left totally blind,” she said. “And I had no skills for blindness. None.”

Imagine waking up one day and not being able to see your children’s faces.
Not being able to cook safely.
Not being able to cross a room without fear.

That was her reality.

But Amanda did not sit still in the dark.

She reached for the light.

Learning to Live Again

She enrolled in an eight-month intensive program at the Colorado Center for the Blind — terrified, uncertain, but determined.

“I knew blind parents packed lunches. Blind parents go to PTA meetings. Blind people live. I just needed to learn again.”

Inside that building, surrounded by others who were walking the same path, something awakened in her.

Not her sight.

Her confidence.

She learned to cook with no vision.
To navigate streets with a cane.
To read Braille.
To use assistive technology.
To move through the world not with fear… but with purpose.

And then she made a decision that changed everything.

She went back to college.

Returning to School — with a Guide Dog and a New Mission

In the fall of 2022, Amanda enrolled at Tennessee Tech University. She walked into her first class with Colonel at her side and a determination that surprised even her.

What she found there moved her deeply.

Professors who asked, “What do you need?”
Staff who didn’t question her capabilities.
Teachers who redesigned materials so she could access them equally.

“No one ever said, ‘Why are you taking these classes?’” she shared. “They believed in me.”

And Amanda?
She thrived.

She excelled in every course, rising to the top of her class.

And on graduation day, she walked the stage not as a blind student who overcame challenges… but as a scholar who earned her place with distinction.

Blind — But Never Broken

Amanda refuses pity.

“The blind are not sitting in their basements waiting for the end,” she said firmly. “We’re out living our lives.”

So she began advocating — loudly, passionately, relentlessly.

She traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for blindness rights.
She flew to San Francisco to protest discrimination against guide dog users.
She became president of the Tennessee Association of Guide Dog Users.
She joined the board of the National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee.

Her message was always the same:

Blind people are capable.
Blind people are powerful.
Blind people deserve a voice.

And Amanda decided she would be one of those voices.

What Comes Next

Amanda isn’t finished.

Not even close.

She is now preparing to pursue a graduate degree in blindness rehabilitation — and maybe even a doctorate. She wants to teach assistive technology, Braille, and independent living skills. She wants to help blind people build the confidence she once lacked.

“I want to help them find their voice,” she said. “I want them to know they have the same dreams they had before blindness. Nothing changes.”

Colonel, her loyal guide dog, remains at her side — steady, loyal, and proud of every step she takes.

The Light Inside the Darkness

Amanda Juetten’s story isn’t about loss.

It’s about transformation.

When vision disappeared, she didn’t fall apart.
She rebuilt.
She relearned.
She reclaimed her future.

And when she crossed that graduation stage, she couldn’t see the audience rise for her…

But she didn’t need to.

She felt it.

She lived it.

Because the world may have gone dark —
but Amanda never stopped walking toward the light.

“All the dreams you had before blindness? You still have them,” she says. “So let’s find a way to do them.”

Her message reaches far beyond the blind community.

It speaks to anyone whose dreams feel broken, delayed, or dimmed.

Because sometimes the people who cannot see…
are the ones who teach us how to truly live.