Life after major academic milestones can leave students with unclear ideas of what’s next. While many students take the next step to attend college after high school graduation, that dream of studying at a university can seem almost impossible to those with cognitive, intellectual, or learning disabilities. The University of Iowa saw this need for those students and created the Realizing Educational and Career Hopes program (REACH).
REACH is a post-secondary transition program at the University of Iowa for young adults with disabilities that guides them for career readiness, social engagement, and community leadership all while offering the traditional campus experience. Beyond a new path for undergraduate students, REACH also has provided a space for two graduate students, McKenzie Fahrni and Bree Neyland, to explore new career pathways.
Fahrni and Neyland are lead academic associates and began their journey with REACH in fall 2021. In this role, they assist instructors and students in the classroom, work one-on-one with students in learning labs, and aid in progress monitoring research projects conducted by REACH. While these two graduate students are pursuing education, they took very different paths to their graduate studies and work at REACH.
After graduating from the University of Iowa with her bachelor’s degree in psychology, Fahrni began working as a paraeducator at a middle school where she discovered her passion for teaching. She decided to return to the university to complete her MAT in secondary social studies education. The responsibilities Fahrni enjoyed as a paraeducator influenced her to continue developing her teaching skills with students with disabilities at the collegiate level.
“I loved my work as a para, and there is potential for special education to be in my future,” Fahrni says. “Gaining more experience with students with disabilities will not only help if I transition into special education, but also widen my perspective to accommodate any student who needs a little more assistance in my future classroom.”
Fahrni attributes her confidence in the classroom to the teaching opportunities provided by REACH. In her position, Fahrni can lead learning labs and teach in place of the instructor when they can’t be in class. This gives her a look into the classroom management approaches she will need for her student teaching next fall. Fahrni states that her teaching experience has given her a better idea of “when to intervene and when to step back and push students to be more independent in their learning.”
Neyland, on the other hand, has spent most of her career in post-secondary education as an associate professor at Loras College in the Department of Rhetoric before working as the director of the Speaking Center at the University of Iowa. She worked on projects with REACH during her time at the Speaking Center and when the opportunity arose, Neyland decided to take the academic associate position with REACH, while pursuing a degree in art education at the University of Iowa.
“I have felt so much joy from this change in career paths,” Neyland says. “As a teacher I have of course worked with students with disabilities, but at REACH I have been able to work with students with much more intention and I am able to apply everything I have learned in the past 20 years to a specific population of students I enjoy working with.”
REACH has also provided Fahrni and Neyland the chances for more personal connections that have impacted their time at the university. The classroom environment and the dynamic between the staff and students allow for everyone to invest in each other. These two graduate students are able to celebrate students’ accomplishments, commiserate with their challenges, and track their progress.
“As a graduate student I roam the campus just as my students do and I love running into them because it feels so easy to strike up a conversation,” Fahrni says. “We make strong connections during class and that intimate atmosphere carries over into the social relationships among the people in the program.”
“At first glance, it might not seem like I would have a lot in common with these young students just beginning their post-secondary education,” Neyland reflects. “But then I listen and learn about these students’ lives, where they come from, their interests, and I discover we have much more in common. They are great people navigating through life like everyone else.”
These connections between staff and students make the REACH community strong but Neyland recognizes there is disparity between how people with disabilities are treated on a larger scale outside of the university setting. She values the connections made with her students and encourages them to “create more connections to the larger community and share their stories and expertise.” To assist students in becoming community leaders, Neyland has plans to pilot a course that combines art and disability studies to promote self-advocacy and community engagement. She is influenced by the connections she has made with her students and utilizes the expertise of those in the REACH program to help develop the course.
“What I have found frustrating in my work with students with disabilities over the course of two decades is that they often are treated differently, and the same opportunities aren’t available to them to engage with their community,” Neyland states. “This is their community too and they deserve to have a voice in how it is shaped. They should be recognized as individuals who have something to offer to the world.”
The relationships formed with their students not only impacts Fahrni and Neyland’s future teaching goals, but it also solidifies their decision in pursuing education as a career. They can recall a plethora of moments in which the deep connections constructed with their students gave them positive feedback that they chose the right career path. Fahrni explains that while the program offers the traditional college experience for the students, classroom settings are more intimate which creates a unique atmosphere for students and instructors to bond. The moments that have impacted Fahrni most are when she is able to help students overcome personal struggles that effect their academics.
“A student confided in me about a struggle they were having outside of school,” Fahrni explains. “We talked about the challenges, and I encouraged them to take a break for a day and start journalling. I could see the difference in their spirits the following days and they began coming to me with problems they needed support for. It made me feel like I was in the right place and really cemented my decision to join the REACH team.”