JANESVILLE — When Jasmine Bertschy was in high school, an unexplained illness led to a prolonged stay at Children’s Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee. By the time she left Children’s, Bertschy had become blind.
Today, Bertschy is preparing to be the student commencement speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Rock County graduation.
When she crosses the stage and goes up to the podium at commencement on Tuesday, Bertschy said she plans to continue being an inspiration and advocate. That’s been her self-defined role since she started attending the Wisconsin School for the Blind and the Visually Impaired in Janesville in 2021, after graduating from high school in Valders — a community about 45 minutes south of Green Bay.
Bertschy’s advocacy reached the spotlight locally in 2023 when she, along with support from teachers from the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, went before the City Council in October 2023 — days before White Cane Day, a day of awareness for the blind and visually impaired.
Bertschy lobbied the council for an audible crosswalk signal at State Street and Center Avenue.
“It was horrible to cross with my gym class. We’d walk across, go in for coffee, maybe, and you’d really have to go at the right time because otherwise cars are just zooming past,” Bertschy said.
She said the city communicated within a week that it planned to install a signal at the crossing.
“A lot of the pedestrians that attend school at the Wisconsin State School for the Blind enjoy walking to Mocha Moment, and that is quite difficult when you have four lanes of traffic. Most of them, and usually all of them, are paying attention. It would be nice to have one of the audible traffic signal lane lights there,” Bertschy told the council at the time.
At 15, Bertschy had a traumatic brain injury and her stomach became perforated. However, it’s still a mystery what precisely caused those symptoms. The illness left her blind.
“One day I was fine, and the next day I was going to go to work and I just couldn’t because I was so sick,” Bertschy said.
Today, she remains positive.
“I don’t feel right looking down on something if you had no control over it in the first place,” Bertschy said.
Like many who have blindness, Bertschy still has some sight. She sees some colors, some lights and some shapes. Things are essentially blurry to her, she says.
“I tell people I can do everything except drive and read,” Bertschy said.
After the illness, she attended The School for the Blind and the Visually Impaired during the week and lived in Valders on weekends from 2021 to 2024.
Bertschy aims to continue her collegiate education. She plans to pursue a psychology degree, and will do so attending UW-Whitewater’s main campus in Whitewater.
“I just like learning about people. I’ll get Lyfts or Ubers here and I’ll be technically analyzing them. I’ll be like, ‘Oh, they’re talking a lot. They must really enjoy talking about certain subjects,’ or some of them are really quiet and I’m like, ‘Oh, I wonder why that is,’” Bertschy said.
Bertschy plans to pursue a master’s degree in mental health counseling, which she feels is a way to carry out advocacy and inspire perseverance in others.
“I want to be able to inspire and help children through difficult times and show them I’ve done it, you can do it, and help push kids and adolescents toward a more positive outlook on life because it’s not all doom and gloom, even if you’re blind,” Bertschy said.
Bertschy said it feels incredible to know she has made it this far and to be graduating with an associate’s of arts and sciences.
She’s excited and “very nervous at the same time.” Bertschy has been practicing with Kelly Jensen, assistant professor of communication at the campus.
“It’s very inspirational. I give a lot of insights into my life, how my blindness and everything occurred and just a little sneak peek into what it’s like going through college as a blind person,” Bertschy said.
She added, “One piece of advice I’d give is just because something super horrible happens and you think it’s the end of the world, it’s not. There’s much worse out there. You can still do it, and I hope that if there’s family, if there’s children out there, they can look at me and go, ‘I want to be just like her. I want to be inspired by her enough to do great things.”
The UW-Whitewater at Rock County’s graduation ceremony is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the gymnasium in the Wells Cultural Center, 2909 Kellogg Ave., Janesville.
