When the Fanshawe Student Union's new social network started up in August, students started blogging right away. But one blog in particular created some real buzz. Twenty-year-old John Abreu wrote about what it was like being a blind college student and readers' interest was piqued.

Abreu hails from Mississauga, but currently calls Brampton his hometown. He was born blind. At 12, he had the chance to see but decided against it.

“I had gotten used to being blind, and if I had the ability to see, I might have been disoriented for a long time,” he said.

Abreu found himself at Fanshawe after learning about the music industry arts program. He had reluctantly applied to other colleges, but MIA and the opportunity to learn about the different aspects of the music industry made Fanshawe number one, he said.

He's already got a musical background, having played drums for 10 years. He also plays trumpet, bass, guitar and keyboards, has played in a few bands, and composes metal music. He's looking forward to Fanshawe's many musical events.

He lives in student housing, and is used to living with roommates from attending specialized schools. But college and student living poses some challenges.

For one thing, he's learning to cook for himself. “I'm not great, I can cook some things. I can make a decent meat sauce!” he joked.

And if you thought navigating the labyrinth-like college was difficult, try it while being visually impaired. Abreu has found Fanshawe's design nicer than other colleges, where he was constantly bumping into obstacles, but it doesn't mean starting school has been easy.

Besides getting around, being in a regular classroom was a bit intimidating. At the specialized school, his classes had about 10 people so moving to a class with about 50 to 60 people was “disorienting.” On the first day, he preferred to stay in the background but found other students helpful.

But regardless of these challenges, Abreu is excited to be at Fanshawe.

“Specialized schools ... don't get a lot of that real world thing. I'm happy that I'm joining the real world,” he said.

And while he is not a regular blogger, he decided to reach out online as a way to say hello and to raise some awareness.

“Blind people will not touch your face, and we're not blind and deaf,” he said about some of misconceptions. “I didn't want to walk around and have people be like, ‘Oh, it's the stigmatic blind guy!' I just wanted to let people know.”