MANILA, Philippines ? Like most 21-YEAR-olds, Angelita Balasabas can spend an entire day seated in front of a computer, uploading photos on her Friendster account, downloading love songs by Sarah Geronimo and Sheryn Regis, checking out the latest videos on YouTube, and chatting with whoever happens to be online.

Typing effortlessly on a keyboard, Balasabas is in her element. Until she asks one question that reveals a most remarkable fact about her.

?Ma?am?? she asks shyly, ?Bukas po ba ?yung monitor??

It?s difficult to describe what she can ?see,? as Balasabas has been blind since birth?the result, she says, of a deficiency in Vitamin A and her ?masahista [masseuse]? mother being blind herself.

?I don?t know what ?light? and ?darkness? are,? says Balasabas, speaking in Tagalog, ?because everything is ?normal? to me.?

Cruel

In Davao where she was born and raised, she went to an exclusive school for the visually impaired during her elementary years. In high school, however, Balasabas and seven other blind students experienced how cruel the world could be when they joined a regular school.

Though she was good in subjects that required memorization, she and other blind students were exempted from activities that needed sight (?So we weren?t graded and didn?t learn anything,? she recalls). Quizzes and tests were doubly hard for them: after answering in Braille, they would still have to recite their answers for teachers who didn?t know how to read Braille.

?I also remember when I was talking to my [sighted] seatmate,? she says. ?When I didn?t get a response, I touched his chair and realized he wasn?t there anymore.?

Despite her visual impairment, Balasabas had an instant affinity with computers, which she learned to use in elementary. She mastered use of the keyboard in fifth grade.

In sixth grade, she went to Manila for the first time to attend a two-week computer course by IBM; after high school, she signed up for a free six-month computer course in Davao, this time with its own set of challenges.

?I was the only blind student in class, all my classmates were deaf, so when the instructor was teaching us, it was so quiet!? she says with a laugh.

Nevertheless, one teacher saw enough promise in her to recommend her to ATRIEV (Adaptive Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired) Computer School for the Blind in Cubao, Quezon City.

Full scholar

Balasabas, who has been in ATRIEV?s care since she arrived in Manila in July 2007, is a full scholar of the Asia Pacific College in Magallanes where she?s a freshman in an associate degree in Computer Technology.

JAWS (that?s Job Access with Speech), a special software program for the visually impaired that translates text to speech, explains Balasabas? confidence with the computer?and the reason she is thriving in a school of mostly sighted students.

?Last semester, she had a 3.5 average,? reports ATRIEV training and employment director Carol Catacutan proudly. ?But students learn more than computer literacy when they?re in ATRIEV; they learn about life.?

Indeed, while Balasabas appears every inch the shy and fragile ?probinsiyana [provincial lass],? she is also, Catacutan observes, ?more determined and talks more.?

Now just as comfortable with sighted students, she likes to hang out with them at the malls, or at the pool of the condominium where a classmate lives.

?Sa Enchanted Kingdom! [At Enchanted Kingdom],? she answers when asked what place she?d most like to visit, referring to a popular theme park in Laguna province.

While she isn?t in a relationship, the idea of having her own family someday excites her. ?Opo, gustong-gusto ko po! [Yes, I really want to],? she exclaims enthusiastically.

Balasabas, who hasn?t been with her mother, stepfather and twin five-year-old brothers since she last went to Davao in December 2007, says, ?I would like to experience having a whole family of my own.?

If she could be blessed with vision, what?s the first thing she?d like to see?

Balasabas, who has her eye on a career in web design and development, doesn?t mention a popular website or the name of a famous actor. Instead, she says with a broad smile, ?My mother.?

ATRIEV Computer School for the Blind was chosen by Samsung Hope, a charity initiative of Samsung, as one of three beneficiaries of its latest social responsibility campaign.