Visually impaired people throughout Wisconsin are finding needed support and training right here in Northcentral Wisconsin.

"You come here and you see these people walking here and find out, you know, it's not as bad as you think,” said Todd Rasmussen, a man who recently lost his sight.

"When you come in here and you're just another person and you see all the other people that have lost their eye sight that are going to school and getting rehab and looking for work and working and so forth, that's a really strong base to rebuild your life upon," said Joe Mielczarek, a counselor for the Visually Impaired Program in the Caroline S. Mark Center at Northcentral Technical College.

"I enjoy doing things just like everybody else," said Jim Unger, a man who only has peripheral vision.

"It's only that one thing that you have to learn to put up with and if you learn to put with it, it doesn't bother you and it doesn't bother me that I'm blind,” said LeRoy Wolf. “I've enjoyed these last years as much, sometimes more than what I had before."

And LeRoy, like many other people with visual impairments across the state, credits those good years to the people at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau.

"Before I came here I was probably at a point where I was disgusted with life and everything because I was doing less and less and less of everything and they just brought me back to life here," LeRoy said.

That’s probably because the people at the Caroline S. Mark Center treat their students like every other student at the college – a person looking to live independently and successfully.

“It is new goals,” Todd said.

For Todd, that means finding gainful employment so he can start supporting his family again.

"Hopefully maybe I can find something that will be a groove,” he said.

Until that time comes, he, like so many others forced to live with disabilities, is learning to enjoy the smaller things in life and not take anything for granted – especially people.

“It's different now,” he said. “You see any kind of disabled people, your heart sort of goes and feels for them, for the true ability they have to be out there."