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Blind Mother Of Five Graduates From Tennessee Tech With Honors

May 26, 2025

Today's good news story comes from Cookeville, Tennessee.

Amanda Juetten, a 47-year-old mother of five and proud new grandmother, recently walked the graduation stage at Tennessee Tech University — with her loyal guide dog, Colonel, by her side.

Earning her degree with honors, Amanda’s journey is one of resilience, advocacy, and an unwavering commitment to live fully and help others do the same.

Amanda Juetten / Credit: BG Photography

Amanda’s path to graduation wasn’t traditional. After beginning her college education nearly three decades ago in California, motherhood led her to put her studies on hold. Years later, just as she prepared to return to school, Amanda’s world changed drastically. In early 2020, she lost her vision completely due to retinitis pigmentosa — a degenerative eye condition that had been slowly impacting her sight for over a decade.

“I was left totally blind with no skills for blindness,” Amanda said. She had adapted to life with limited sight, but total blindness required a completely new skill set. It took months to access local services in Tennessee, so Amanda took matters into her own hands. In 2021, she traveled to the Colorado Center for the Blind, where she spent eight months learning essential skills in braille, mobility, cooking, assistive technology, and more — all taught by instructors who were also blind.

The Juetten family / WBIR Channel 10

During her training, Amanda found strength and community.

“Blind people are not sitting in their basements waiting for the end,” she said. “They’re out there living their lives, and I wanted to do that too.”

Amanda returned home empowered, and in 2022, she enrolled at Tennessee Tech. Initially pursuing communication, she later switched to a professional studies degree with a focus on organizational leadership — a program well-suited for adult learners like herself.

“The instructors at Tech were wonderful,” she said. “They asked, ‘What are your needs? How can I make this accessible to you?’ I never got pushback.” She also praised the university’s Accessible Education Center and its supportive staff for making her learning journey possible.

Amanda’s graduation is more than an academic achievement — it’s a powerful statement.

“We are a cross-section of society,” she said. “We have the same abilities, inabilities, hopes, dreams and desires as any sighted person, yet we are approached as though all of that is diminished.”

Now a graduate, Amanda is turning her passion for advocacy into action. She plans to earn a graduate certificate in blindness rehabilitation teaching and become a vocational rehabilitation vendor, offering training in braille, assistive technology, and independent living skills.

She’s also co-founding a new Training Center for the Blind in Cookeville, Tennessee, modeled after the Colorado program that helped transform her life. Originally scheduled to open in 2024, the center’s launch has been delayed until January 2026 due to funding setbacks. Still, Amanda remains undeterred.

“Most people are put in a box and give up on trying to be independent because of the constant ‘I’ll just do it for you’ heard around them,” she said. “But blindness doesn’t have to be an excuse.”

Hear Amanda’s story in her own words in the local news interview below: