Erskine Seminary Seeing what others do not: seminary alumna Anna Price
Anna Price sees an asset where others might see a liability. “I was born healthy and grew up like any average child. But in the fourth grade my teacher noticed that I was having vision issues and encouraged my parents to take me to an optometrist,” Anna recalls. Several doctor visits and an MRI later, it was discovered that she had a brain tumor on her optic chiasm, the part of the brain where the optic nerves cross. Following a visit to Johns Hopkins and rounds of chemotherapy, her tumor had shrunk, but she was left legally blind. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it—the struggle has been tough,” Anna admits. “God’s plans continue to win out over my own plans. The road has been very humbling. Yet God has also used my struggles to help me learn more about myself, draw me closer to trust in Him, and even set me out on a mission to help others.” Because of her personal experience of battling cancer, Anna began advocating for children with pediatric cancer by speaking at fundraisers during high school. Eventually, she switched her focus to advocacy for the blind and those with other disabilities.
“During college I was blessed to be a counselor at a summer camp for the blind,” she says. “From my own experience, I could show others that [being] blind doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish your goals in life,” she says. “To this day I continue to work with high school students who have disabilities and the struggles that accom- pany those disabilities,” Anna says, noting that she passes on the lessons she herself has learned through her own struggles.
“While some people I counsel are in a state of lament, I teach them that good can come out of bad situations and
that there’s a vast difference between happiness and joy in this life. Happiness is situational and temporary, but joy is an eternal gift from God.” Today she works with the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina, but her mission extends even further.
“Now I advocate for issues of accessibility among people with various disabilities, not just the blind,” she says.
“And, providentially, my seminary professors taught me how to communicate the Gospel so that it is accessible to many different types of people. So I try to weave those goals together as often as I have the opportunity.” Not only has Anna traveled around her own state of South Carolina and lobbied at the Statehouse, she also ad-
dressed the U.S. Congress in 2021, and in 2023 led a group to Washington, D.C. There she and her team met with both senators and representatives to discuss legislation for disability income, medical device accessibility, screen reading software, and website accessibility. Anna also advocates within the church. She believes that her own disability makes her more aware of and sensi- tive to the needs of others and how churches can meet those needs. “It takes a change in mindset to be able to see the issues people with disabilities are facing,” she explains. “Some Christians can feel excluded from churches because accommodations are not made, such as enhanced audio systems for hearing needs or large-print bulletins for visual needs. “It takes patience and a desire to listen to others, learn from others, and work with others, so that accommo- dating fellow Christians doesn’t make them feel like they’re somehow a burden on the congregation,” she says. “Overcoming obstacles for members with disabilities is a very practical way for churches to demonstrate Christ’s love for His people.” faith continues to inform her mission to advocate for those with disabilities. ”Learning to love people who are different from us is part of the reconciliation and unity we are called to in the Gospel,” she says.
After periods of doubts, questions, and struggles, she now acknowledges that her disability has be- come a blessing. “God is using what I once believed was a weakness and hindrance in my life to provide strength and support to the lives of others. His wis- dom is amazing!”
Ms. Anna Price (BA, ’20; MAPM, ’23) currently serves as the South Carolina Legislative Director and previously served as Vice President of the Communities of Faith Division at the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. She also works as a Transitions Specialist with Success Transitions and volunteers with the special needs ministry at her local church in Columbia, S.C.
January/February 2024
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