This summer, four Portland State University students from across the country took cohort bonding to the next level — by getting matching artichoke tattoos.
To understand how a leafy vegetable ended up permanently inked on a group of future orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists, you have to understand "cane class." Amy Parker, PSU associate professor and program coordinator, describes it as the beating heart of PSU’s O&M graduate program. The immersive four-week summer experience is the sole hands-on residency in a program otherwise completed online.
Students from across the country gather in Portland or another designated city to navigate rural settings and urban streets under blindfold. Working in small groups alongside a PSU instructor, and guest teachers from the community who are blind, the goal is simple yet profound: build lasting relationships and the deep, firsthand empathy and spatial awareness required to teach travel skills to individuals who are blind or have low vision.
Students say it's an intense, but transformative month. At times, it's even hilarious.
During one lesson while navigating in a Southeast Portland neighborhood, instructor Ky Hansen pointed out a distinctive plant along the sidewalk. Unsure of its identity by touch and description alone, they guessed it might be asparagus. When the blindfolds came off at the end of the route, everyone had a good laugh: standing before them was a towering artichoke plant topped with vibrant purple blooms.
The "asparagus-artichoke" became an instant inside joke, but as the weeks progressed, it grew into something more meaningful for the close-knit cohort.
"People tell you cane class is intense, but you really don't understand it until you live it," says Megan Becker, a graduate who recently accepted a role with the Washington School for the Blind Outreach. "I wanted something that I shared with my classmates that symbolized such a special and humbling experience."
Becker, along with classmates Betsy Hermanson, Jasmine Low and Caron Isakson, decided to turn their shared milestone into ink.
"We joked that we were 'trauma bonded,' but really just bonded is the better description," says Hermanson, a vision rehabilitation specialist who traveled from North Dakota. "These are connections that will last forever."
Hermanson notes that North Dakota currently has only four O&M specialists statewide. "By getting this certification, it will allow more access to services for the visually impaired residents of North Dakota," she adds.
With graduates taking their hands-on expertise back to underserved communities from coast to coast, PSU’s hybrid O&M program continues to address severe national shortages in vision services. Their paths may take them back to their home states, but their shared time under the blindfold — and on the tattoo table — keeps them permanently connected.