The world just got a lot more colorful for one MSU Billings student.
Joe Quinn is a Resident Assistant at MSUB, and was recently gifted with a pair of EnChroma glasses, which are made for people with colorblindness.
Joe has been an RA for the past three years.
For his final send off, his coworkers in the Housing and Residential Life Department wanted to give him a gift he would never forget: The gift of color.
The housing staff at MSUB saved up their own money to surprise Joe at their end of semester dinner at Ciao Mambo in Downtown Billings.
If keeping a secret wasn't hard enough, Hall Director Emily Holland had to determine what kind of colorblindness Joe had because the glasses are specific to different types.
Some types of colorblindness are not compatible with any glasses on the market at the moment.
With a little sneaking around, Emily was able to get Joe to take the colorblind test on EnChroma's website.
Joe was born with Deutronopia, which means he can only see two to three hues of color.
Normal vision allows people to see seven different hues.
It is difficult for Joe to differentiate between colors like blue and purple; he cannot see the color pink, and reds and greens aren't as vibrant as normal vision allows.
When asked what he was most excited to see with his new glasses, Joe stated, "I'm definitely most excited to see my pictures from Ireland. I heard there are way more shades of green than I can see."
