Courage Across Continents: Wallace Stuckey’s Leap to London

Full Transcript:  

Luisa: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Through Our Eyes, where we share the stories, journeys, and real-life experiences of individuals and families living with visual impairment all through their own lens. I’m your host, Luisa Recchia, and today I’m thrilled because we have a guest whose courage and curiosity just light up a room, or in this case, an entire podcast. 

Earlier this year, you may remember him as one of our featured young adult speakers at the Family Connection Conference. He’s also an active member of our family advisory committee, and recently he made a huge leap, like across the ocean, huge, moving to London to pursue his master’s degree. His story is powerful. It’s brave and honestly, it’s the kind of story that reminds us what’s possible when you say yes to the unknown. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let’s dive into this inspiring [00:01:00] conversation. 

So London, what sparked the decision to pack up and pursue your master overseas, Wallace? 

Wallace: Great question, Luisa, to get started. I had known that I wanted to do a master’s for a little while. It’s kind of been on my agenda because I’m interested in national security and foreign affairs related issues. And for a lot of jobs in this space, they do want an advanced degree. And so I wanted to do it. I think the question was just about timing and when I was going to do it. And I reached out to a couple of folks, kind of professors from my undergrad, and also contacts I had met when I was working in the House of Representatives, just to see what do you guys think about this? Is the [00:02:00] master’s worth it? If so, when did you do it? Did you value it? 

Kind of the response I got from almost everyone was absolutely yes, do it, and do it within a few years of when you did your undergrad, maybe a little bit of work experience first, which is what I did. And now seems like a great time to do it because there’s all sorts of jobs that I want in the kind of government space and there was not a lot of government hiring going on in DC at the moment. So part of it was just how can I be productive now, and this is what I landed on. 

Also, doing it in London, when I did an internship at the US Global Leadership Coalition, which is a nonprofit that focuses on the importance of international development funding and diplomatic funding, three folks that worked there all did their master’s degrees at different London universities. So I asked all three of them what’d you think about your experience, and I chose Kings because it was the program that lined up with [00:03:00] what I was most interested in of the three, and again, I had gotten good feedback directly about doing it. 

Luisa: Wonderful. Tell me what was going through your mind the moment you landed and realized, okay, this is my new home. 

Wallace: Well, so I got a little bonus on this trip because I didn’t actually land in the UK. I landed in France because my dad came over to help me move. We decided to make a little trip out of it. So I was in Paris for a week before I got to the UK, which was great all in its own because I had been to Paris a few times before, but it was new to him. And so I got to walk around to some of the places that I knew and kind of showed him around the different parts of Paris, and we did the iconic Eiffel Tower photo. And it was a really, it had lots of good food and had a really nice time. Walked around the Luxembourg Gardens, and so that was really special too, [00:04:00] to kind of be able to use my skills of traveling and navigating, which I really like to do. 

Then, from France to the UK, we took the Eurostar through the chunnel, which is the train that goes under the English Channel from France to England, which is, I think, the best way to travel here. It was really nice to everyone else that I met, you know, who had just moved in, was coming off of five hours of jet lag if you came from the east coast of the US like I did. But some people were flying in from India or Australia where you have 12 hours. So for me it was kind of an easy start in London. But I mean, I was really excited that it was finally here. I’ve been counting down since April when I got the news from Kings that I was accepted, and yeah, really good feeling. You know, there were parts of it where I didn’t know how it was gonna go because I’ve gone [00:05:00] through, I know about the education side ’cause I did my undergraduate. I know about living on my own, but I don’t know about doing education and living on my own in the UK. So yeah, I’d say overall really good. 

Luisa: Yeah. So, okay, so that makes me wanna ask you, what did you find surprisingly accessible and surprisingly not accessible in parts of London? 

Wallace: It’s good to cover both because there’s definitely a lot to say on either end of that. I think the street crossing, this is one thing that’s just very different and I’m still making up my mind on which system I like better. But on all of the intersections here, I think the detectable tactile warnings are much better because they extend across the whole sidewalk. So you can feel them if you’re walking and that gives you a clue of where the signal is. But what’s different is there’s a button on the traffic [00:06:00] signal, just like there would be if you’re in the US. But most of them don’t actually beep when you can cross because there are regulations about noise in areas where there are residences, and some of them do. But if you’re in a more residential area, which a lot of built up, even very central London areas are classified that way, they don’t. And I thought, oh wow, this is terrible, like 90% of these accessible traffic lights don’t work. Well, actually, there’s a secret, and the mobility instructor Sandra, who Kings introduced me to, showed me this. On the bottom of the traffic signals there’s a, it’s called a cone, and when the light changes to green, the cone starts to rotate, it spins, and that’s your sign. You can feel it, and that’s your sign that you’re supposed to be able to cross the street. So if she wouldn’t have told me, I don’t think I would’ve ever found it. 

So it’s a good way to cross the street and know when it’s time to go. And I think though, one thing that’s [00:07:00] different is that I was used to living in Washington, DC where there is a grid system you can mentally map out. You’re at 17th and K. Here it’s not, the streets just go all over. And so you do have to know where you are. Also, what makes that difficult is that a lot of map based apps are less precise in London. I think because the street network is so dense, and also when you’re walking around areas with very tall buildings, it can throw the GPS signal off a bit. And that’s been hard. 

Even if you plot a business, if you want to look up a business, it may tell you that it’s on the other side of the street than it actually is. So even when I’ve used my navigation based apps, some of them kind of struggled with that, and I had to fall back to going inside and just asking to get confirmation of exactly where I am. Also, something that’s different is we [00:08:00] in the States walk on the right because we drive on the right. It makes sense. So you think, okay, UK, they drive on the left, it means you walk on the left. Oh no, there is no walking side in London. On the pavement, not the sidewalk, you just walk. So it could be on one block that everyone’s kind of walking on the right, so you just walk on the right, but then the next block it’s totally different. So really, the thing is you don’t have to apologize for being in anyone’s way because, well, that’s just the convention. That’s just the system. I don’t really like it that much, but that’s the way it goes. You just kind of walk and find space wherever you can in a crowd, which is difficult in some ways, but at least you’re not gonna get in trouble. 

Luisa: So tell me, those listeners that are contemplating whether or not they should make that leap and not only choose to pursue their master’s degree, but also choose to move to a different country, how did you prepare both emotionally, [00:09:00] logistically, academically, and what kind of advice would you give them or what would you share? 

Wallace: Well, with a master’s degree, I think it’s important to have a kind of a clear idea of what you want the master’s degree in and how it can advance your career. Someone, when I was asking a staffer on Capitol Hill, said that a mentor told him to go for the master’s if there is a barrier in your way, if you want to get jobs or move into a space. It’s needed. And that’s what he did. And he said, for you it sounds like there’s a barrier, so you should do the degree. I think that was really good advice. 

And then with it being in a different country, I thought it was a really good opportunity because the one thing about master’s degrees in the UK is that, at least for this program, it’s a year long master’s as opposed to, I think most in the US would be two years. So it was, I could get it done faster and for a little bit less money. So wins there. 

And how did I prepare? Well, the good thing was that I knew a lot about London and the UK before I came because I follow, I am always following what’s going on in the news both in the US and the UK. I’ve been to London a few times before, but I was kind of familiar with it because [00:10:00] watching the BBC on election night for the past four or five elections has its benefits, because they always talk about the geography. And like I said, I spoke to a few people who had done their master’s over here and liked it. 

Emotionally, I was excited. I was looking for something new and this was really something that made me motivated. I needed to take another step forward in my career and it kind of fell into place as an obvious solution, which is funny because I applied in March and started in September. So it was a quicker timeline than I thought that maybe I could get. I was really open to it, decided, oh, let’s go for it and apply because there was no harm in applying. And just because you get an opportunity like this, once you hear back, and if you do hear back and you get accepted to any university, it doesn’t obligate you to go. You can continue to think about it for a little while even if it’s right. And for me it has been so far. 

Luisa: Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. Let me go back a little bit if it’s okay with you. You were featured, actually you were our featured guest at our Family Connection Conference this past April. 

Wallace: I came out in person. It was great. 

Luisa: Yeah. So what was that experience like for you? 

Wallace: Of course, this was like [00:12:00] breaking news when I was at the conference because I heard back from King’s College saying I was accepted on Thursday, and then the conference I flew out to see you guys on Friday. So it was really special to chat with Dr. Capone because I usually get to see him in the exam room, and like I said, this is one time he wasn’t bringing out his eye exam lights. But I’ve been seeing Dr. Capone for as long as I’ve been around because I started seeing him when I was a baby. 

So it was cool to have the conversation about how I’ve advanced and how he’s helped me my whole life. He’s been such a source of encouragement and someone who I’ve been able to depend on for so long. So we just kind of talked about how to navigate school and career as someone with a visual [00:13:00] impairment and it was really special. 

Luisa: Yeah, it was special. It was special to have you. It was a wonderful event. For those that were not able to be there, what did you hope families took away from that day? 

Wallace: To stay in touch with each other, because there are a lot of unknowns when you get a diagnosis of any kind of visual impairment, but the best way to have hope and encouragement and a path forward is to talk to others. And as Dr. Capone says, and as you said, the support system is what’s needed to do that and to be successful. The way you do that is to talk to other folks going through it, and it helps everybody move forward and learn from what everyone has said. So just stay involved, I think, is the message. 

Luisa: Yeah. And as you have, as part of the family [00:14:00] advisory committee, right? I mean, you’ve gotten the opportunity to meet some of the other members of the family advisory committee and being… 

Wallace: Yeah. 

Luisa: …because you’ve chosen to be connected. 

Wallace: Exactly. Yeah. I get to chat with everybody online about once a month. And then it was really nice seeing folks in Michigan though. 

Luisa: Yeah. I love sharing your travel stories also. So let’s share, what does a day in your life look like today? 

Wallace: Well, they’re busy and they start early because most of my classes are 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM this semester. Also, I think what’s different about my undergrad versus now is that I do commute to campus. I take the underground from my residence to the university, which is different I think in the UK. Almost all, this is the case here, all of the student residences are [00:15:00] off campus and in different parts of London. 

You know, I could walk 10 minutes and be in class. I could leave my dorm at 8:45 for 9:00 AM in Washington. Can’t get away with that here. But I take the underground. Learning that was kind of a challenge in the beginning because I know the geography, but one of the accessibility challenges is that the train will tell you where it’s going, but oftentimes, especially at some stations, it won’t do it until the doors have closed, which is not great. 

So one of the things that I’ve done to balance that is that everybody talks about the really smart apps, like AI or the advanced navigation apps. I had to go back and use the old Compass app, the built in compass that comes on the phone, because I need to know, okay, is this going north or south, because I maybe can’t hear where the train is going. That kind of [00:16:00] helped me with that. It’s only a few stops, and then I walk the rest of the way to campus. 

Most days I have one lecture, which is exactly what it sounds like, and then the classes here, there is a seminar too where the class is broken up into sections. It’s very much discussion based, and oftentimes the professor will provide questions in advance. The classes are all about intelligence, contemporary military, and warfare. I’m doing a class on Russia, doing a class on cyber security and cyber power, which is, I think, of all of these subjects, the one I knew least about coming in. They’ve all been really interesting. Usually one class, and then I’m involved just to meet people. I’m doing a couple of the societies here, like the war studies program has its own society, and I’ll meet people through those, or just [00:17:00] meeting people in the student kitchen and dining hall on campus. We have a student pub on campus, which is really fun, a good way to meet people. 

I’m doing lots of walking too on the days where it’s nice, and there’s more nice weather in London than people think. There are plenty of days it’s actually sunny out, and I can walk next to the river. It’s the Thames path. I do that most weekends. That’s been really nice. And then just lots of reading for class, and about to be lots of writing. All of the essays and deadlines, as they typically do in college, come near the end of the semester. A lot of work over the next month, but love it. It’s gone really fast. It’s already November, and it doesn’t feel like two thirds of the semester are over, but here we are. 

Luisa: Best part of London so far. 

Wallace: Best part of London so far, I think probably just [00:18:00] chatting with and hanging out with the different people in the program. There are about 130 of us in the intelligence program and more than that, about 450 or 500 in the full war studies department. To give everyone an idea, in the Department of War Studies, there are nine different majors, and I’m in the intelligence major. Just meeting people and chatting with them and going out and trying different new food and drinks is really fun, because you can get about anything under the sun that’s available in London. Going to new places, I would say. And just exploring is the most fun part, with different people from school. 

Luisa: Okay. So what’s one thing you can do in London that you never thought you could do? 

Wallace: Let’s see. I think it’s all the different people I get to chat with. I mean, we had John le Carré, the famous spy writer’s son, come [00:19:00] and speak to us. We’ve had generals and admirals come and speak to us. So I know it’s very much on the networking side, but the university really does deliver for that. And then walking through four or five different London boroughs in one day, maybe. Like I said, seeing different parts of the city. I’ve been in London a few months now and this program is a full year, but I’m sure there are parts of London I won’t have time for, even in a year, because it’s 31 boroughs in the city of London. That’s a lot of territory. 

Also, being able to book a flight and go travel. There are probably 15 countries you can get to within a two hour flight of London. That is really cool and something I hope to do more of in the breaks that I get, especially when we [00:20:00] get into next summer. Take advantage of being in the UK. 

Luisa: Nice. Very nice. I know you’ve made several moves, but this particular move to London, what’s it taught you about yourself? 

Wallace: I have made a lot of moves in one year, but now I get to be here for a year. So it’s taught me, I think, that I’m resourceful and that I’ve been able to learn a lot really quickly just about navigating and traveling. That’s something I knew that I liked to do, but it definitely confirms that it’s a strength and that I’ve been able to meet so many new people. That’s really special too. I think one of the best parts about the program is it gives me so many people to stay in touch with and be friends with for a long time to come. It’s been a new, big opportunity, and I really appreciate it for [00:21:00] that. 

Luisa: Nice. Let’s talk a little bit about technology. What technology or mobility tools make your daily life possible? 

Wallace: So Seeing AI is one of the apps that comes to mind first because I use that to make things accessible when they’re not. There are still plenty of signs and occasionally documents that I get that I don’t have time to reach out to the disability support office to get them to make in an accessible format. But it does give me an opportunity to do that on my own. I can take some screenshots and make an inaccessible menu into an instantly accessible document, which I’ve also used AI for that. 

If I coach it, if I say, take this photo, take the PDF that I’ve given you, which is divided into three columns, which read terribly with the [00:22:00] screen reader, make that into a one-column accessible screen reader-friendly format, it will mostly do it for me. Sometimes it acts up, but that’s a good use of AI. Also, even just the camera app in the Apple iPhone now has some built-in OCR, which is the optical character recognition. That’s what makes something accessible. It will read to me what is shown on a sign or something, which is good, especially because, on the kind of negative accessibility side, there is a lot less Braille here. That is something that I miss. So the apps are important for that. 

For navigation, a lot of times I use something like Google Maps, but again, it has its issues. It will tell you you’re a block away from where you are. So I use Aira too, the software where I can connect to a live agent. The folks on there work really hard. It’s a tough job, but they run into the same problems that [00:23:00] I do because they use their software, their navigation apps, and they often have some error to them. 

Also, there’s one, the Lazarillo app, which if you just leave it open as you walk, it will tell you a lot of the landmarks that you pass, like businesses, streets, and things like that. It works in any country actually. I’ve used it in France, I’ve used it in the UK. It will completely mangle the pronunciation of some things because it reads it to you in the speech-to-text voice, but it gets it done. 

Luisa: Thanks for sharing. That’s very good information, and I’m sure some of our listeners will benefit from some of the apps that you just shared and how they’ve helped you. And I assume it’s an iPhone or an Android, or does that [00:24:00] matter? 

Wallace: I use an iPhone. I’ve used it for a long time and it’s worked well for me. But folks that use TalkBack on Android, some really like that too. I think all the apps that I’ve used are good for either one, but I can speak about it just from the Apple side, and that’s been fine. 

Luisa: All right, let’s share when you look out two to three years, what do you hope this chapter leads to? 

Wallace: So now, we’re early in the program, but everyone’s focused on their job search and what they want to do. I think for me, I’m still really interested in working in the government space, something in the foreign service or something in Congress back in Washington. But also there’s the kind of private security and [00:25:00] intelligence firms that need folks who know a lot about different regions of the world that advise governments on things like political risk and current events in different countries. That really opens up a lot of opportunities when it’s hard to get a job in government. 

I’m not a hundred percent certain yet on what my next step will be, but I think the main goal is to learn as much as I can in the program about intelligence and contemporary military issues, and for it to give me a broader field of jobs to apply that knowledge to than what I had before. Especially right now, you need to cast a wide net. That’s something a lot of the alumni that come in and speak to us have said, that they didn’t really get what they wanted one or two years down the road. They got what they wanted five years after. Not all of them took the full five, but being flexible is the message that I’ve gotten across the board. 

Luisa: Well, we know you’re flexible. You move around a lot. You’ve made lots of changes and you’re always available for us, and we appreciate that so much. But thanks for sharing that. So something fun, what’s your favorite UK snack? 

Wallace: Hmm. Okay, well, I got corrected on week two when I was ordering because I didn’t say crisps when I should. But also the, I think it’s more of a dessert. I have been snacking on it, not that you should, but it is going to be Christmas time soon. So all of the stores are doing these Cadbury chocolate box sales. I’ve been snacking on chocolate, which I probably shouldn’t keep in this drawer right next to me, but that’s probably my favorite. 

Luisa: Tea or [00:27:00] coffee? 

Wallace: Coffee, out of habit. I mean, I really like tea, so whenever I drink tea, I think, oh, this is so good, I should do it more. But I got used to coffee so often I just default to it. I don’t know, they haven’t switched me yet. You should ask me this question again at the end of the program. 

Luisa: Okay, all right. And so what’s the most London thing you’ve done so far? 

Wallace: Let’s see, the most London thing I’ve done so far, the War Study Society pub crawl, I think, probably takes it. 

Luisa: Oh my goodness. I love that. Anything that I haven’t asked that you want to share? 

Wallace: This is good. I think I’ve got most of it. I don’t know if I could top that. 

Luisa: So is there a favorite beer that you like? 

Wallace: Well, I mean, like in the States, I keep trying different ones because I need to figure that out. I’m simple. I like a good lager. A Staropramen is really good, which is Czech, and Lowenbrau’s good. I think the takeaway is that beer is cold in the UK. Don’t believe any of this nonsense about lukewarm beer. People are spreading these rumors in the States about it not being cold here. Don’t worry. It could be because it’s cold outside, maybe that’s it, but no, it’s just fine. 

Luisa: Wonderful. Well, Wallace, thank you for joining us tonight. Is there any parting words that you’d like to share with our audience and listeners of Through Our Eyes? 

Wallace: Thanks, Luisa. I really enjoyed it, and I guess ending words would be like we were talking [00:29:00] about with the conference, just keep in touch and keep building the community that we have at the Pediatric Retinal Research Foundation because that’s really special and it’s really unique to everybody in the PRRF and helps everybody. That’s definitely helped me. I’m hoping that this can be helpful to everyone listening too. Also, just take new opportunities as they come and keep trying new things, because you never know where it’s going to take you. 

Luisa: Thank you so much, and from the Pediatric Retinal Research Foundation, we thank you for all that you do with us and for us. Thank you so much for joining us for this conversation on Through Our Eyes. To our guest, thank you for sharing your journey, your honesty, your humor, and all the courage it takes to leap toward a bigger life. Your voice matters deeply to our community, and we’re grateful you shared it with us today. 

If you’re listening [00:30:00] and this episode resonates with you, please share it with someone who needs a reminder that big dreams are still possible even when the path looks different. As always, you can find past episodes, upcoming events, and ways to get involved at the Pediatric Retinal Research Foundation’s website. And if you were moved by today’s story, consider joining us or supporting the mission. Every voice helps us build a brighter future. Until next time, I’m Luisa Recchia. Thank you for being here and thank you for listening. Keep seeing the world through our eyes.  

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