|
 |
| | | Guide dog brings a smile to the Supreme Court | | |  Rob Munro was born in Hawaii to a Navy family and has been around the world but not seen much of it. Now he is in law school and has not seen much of that either. Rob is blind.
(Raleigh) Each year in May, students from various law schools arrive in Raleigh to begin an internship with a member of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of North Carolina. This year, one of those interns arrived with something unique: a guide dog.
After introducing myself to Rob Munro and settling into a chair in the chambers of Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin at the Supreme Court building in down-town Raleigh, I was fumbling with my note pad and said to Rob, “Just a second I can’t find my reading glasses.” “You won’t get much sympathy from me!” he replied quickly, and I knew then I would have to hold on to my seat for this interview.
Rob is a first-year law student at the University of North Carolina and a 1995 graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Between college and law school he served as Director of Fundraising, Production Director and on-air personality at a Virginia public radio station. He ran the reading service for the visually impaired. Rob is blind due to a bout with eye cancer when he was six months old, (the leading cause of blindness for kids under five by the way.) Even with sight problems, he became an Eagle Scout as a teenager. While working in a mattress factory he decided he would rather “work with his mind not his hands,” and shortly enrolled in law school at the age of 34. “I want to handle the legal problems of the rich!” he quipped, sending the crowd around his office into a roar of laughter. Actually, Rob is more interested in public service and would like to serve as a legal assist to a member of the courts following law school. “With his combination of academic ability and determination, I am confident he has a bright future in the legal profession.” Said Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin. “It runs in the family,” said Justice Martin, “his brother just graduated from Duke Medical School.”
Indeed, Rob is a remarkable guy but can’t take all the credit himself. His eyes are a 12 year old female Lab named Pilaf. “It’s like rice pilaf,” said Rob, “and she loves to eat it too!” “She is not the best student though,” he said, scratching her ear, “she sleeps through most of the law classes and even snores now and then and I have to poke her.”
Rob is also assisted by a “talking” computer and electronic versions of textbooks to keep up with his intense workload as a first year law student. “I will give you one of my secrets,” he said in a mock whisper, “I have several voices from which to choose on my electronic talker but I like the robot voice better, I can turn the speed up really fast, still understand the robot, and read twice as much as the other students in the class.”
Rob had to attend 4-weeks of guide dog school in Yorktown Heights, NY, to learn to use Pilaf. Around the house, “she is like any kid,” he said, “she stops and peeps in every trash can and we can’t leave food out on the counter either.” Using Pilaf as the bait, Rob met his wife Denise some 5-years ago and they were married just over a year ago. She is a former 7th Grade English teacher and has her hands full, as you can imagine, with Rob and Pilaf. The Munro family is working toward 2010. Rob and the dog will graduate from law school; Denise will graduate from UNC with a Masters of Library Science.
| | | | Publish Date: 09/18/2008 |
|
|
 |