The Story of My Life

For the next two years, Keller is educated in New York City at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf. Accompanied by Miss Sullivan, Keller’s education is expanded to include more languages (French and German), arithmetic, and physical geography.

Significant progress is made in her learning, especially her ability to read and speak German, but Keller experiences depression when it becomes apparent that her speaking abilities are not at the level her teachers had hoped for: “although we worked hard and faithfully, yet we did not quite reach our goal. I suppose we aimed too high, and disappointment was therefore inevitable” (107).

Keller’s interest in her studies, particularly physical geography, keep her spirits lifted. She also enjoys her forays into New York’s Central Park, “the only part of the city that was congenial to me” (108). The park is beautiful in unique ways each time that Keller walks through it.

The time in New York also affords her opportunities to travel on the Hudson River, and visit West Point and Tarrytown, giving her the chance to walk through the inspiration for Washington Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow.”

Before leaving New York for home, Keller is struck with grief at the death of one of her supporters, Mr. John P. Spaulding of Boston. His quiet support in Keller’s advancements, even from a distance, had always been there for her, and his loss is a significant one to her confidence.

In 1896, at age sixteen, Keller enrolls in the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, a preparatory school for Radcliffe. Keller has taken to heart her goal of being accepted into college, and the Cambridge School is determined to be the best path to that dream.

Miss Sullivan accompanies Keller to the school and is allowed to attend classes with her to interpret the instructions given to the class. The teachers at the Cambridge School are not versed in teaching students with impairments, and the only way Keller can communicate with them is by reading their lips.

Keller’s previous education ensures she does not need assistance other than reading critical texts assigned for her classes. She faces the disadvantage of having lengthy textbooks that are not printed in Braille, and that contain too much information for Miss Sullivan to sign into Keller’s hand. While Keller cannot take notes during class, she is able to type up her notes from memory on her typewriter in her home.

All the while, Keller credits Miss Sullivan for patiently being there with her every step of the way. A couple of her teachers make an effort to learn to sign to Keller, but no one can fill the spot that Miss Sullivan has in her life.

Keller’s days are filled with studying, and at Christmas, her mother and sister arrive to visit, with Mildred attending a nearby school. She declares, “It makes me most happy to remember the hours we spent helping each other in study and sharing our recreation together” (115).

The preliminary exams for passage into Radcliffe are modified for Keller as she is given her exams in her room so her typewriter keys would not distract other students in the exams. Her exams are proctored with a guard at the door to prevent any interruption.

To her relief, Keller passes both her courses and her exams, and prepares to move into the second year of study.

Keller’s second year at the preparatory school does not go as she hoped. Despite her accomplishments in her studies, her new classes for the year are more advanced, and there are no Braille copies of the textbooks for her to read. Keller acknowledges that the information is too much for even Miss Sullivan to try to sign to her. Keller’s classes are also much larger, and her instructors are unable to give her special attention and instruction.

Keller faces more extreme challenges, some of which sorely test her strength and patience, and even strain her relationship with her dear teacher: “In a word, every study had its obstacles. Sometimes I lost all courage and betrayed my feelings in a way I am ashamed to remember, especially as the signs of my trouble were afterward used against Miss Sullivan, the only person of all the kind friends I had there, who could make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth” (119).

When Mr. Gilman, the director of the school, accuses Miss Sullivan of working Keller too hard, the situation becomes untenable. Gilman makes changes to Keller’s courses of study that would make it impossible for her to take her final exams. In frustration, Keller’s mother withdraws Keller and Mildred from the school.

Keller’s education is continued by a tutor, Mr. Merton S. Keith, who helps her to understand mathematics better, but who fails to prepare Keller for the kind of examination papers she would need to write for her finals. But Keller does not blame her misfortunes on anyone. Instead, she takes the trials that she faces as she undergoes the examinations with the knowledge that “But if they unintentionally placed obstacles in my way, I have the consolation of knowing that I overcame them” (123).