Haben Girma, Harvard Law School's first deaf-blind graduate, is fighting for accessible education for other deaf-blind people worldwide, according to BBC News.
The Eritrean-American was born in California after her mother escaped Eritrea in the early 1980s. Today, Girma is a successful attorney who advocates for civil rights of people with disabilities, reported the Diplomat News Network. She says that she is proof that if you believe that you can achieve a goal, then you will.
The 27-year-old's family comes from Eritrea, a country in the Eastern region of Africa. Being born deaf and blind in her home country did not give her many options for access to education, noted India.com. There were no schools for people with special physical disabilities, and it would have been impossible for Haben to get the education she needed to become a lawyer. Her older brother was also born deaf-blind and did not have access to special education in Eritrea, either.
Girma went to Lewis & Clark College, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2010. She later matriculated to Harvard Law School and earned her J.D. in 2013.
She celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act earlier this year at the White House with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Check out the video below.
