It didn’t take long for former Council Scholarship Recipient Annika Konrad to discover her love of writing. While in middle school, Annika found that writing helped her express her thoughts. The once-shy kid then spent all four of her high school years working for the school newspaper. When she started college and began taking classes at UW-Madison, she was inspired by her writing instructors. That’s when she knew she wanted to teach students how to write.
After returning to Madison to earn her doctorate degree in English (with the help of a Council Scholarship), Annika reached her goal, and she is now associate director of the Writing Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In that role, Annika works with students of all levels, teaching writing classes and training graduate student instructors. Annika oversees the curriculum for the first-year writing course at Michigan, deciding what should be taught and how to best assess and grade students. Annika also supports the leadership team within the Writing Program and helps decide how to steer the program into the future. “I get a lot of questions about everything from the use of generative AI to the health and safety of our international students,” Annika says. “It’s a bit of a volatile time in higher education, but it’s still so rewarding.”
In addition to her focus on writing, Annika also works in disability advocacy on campus. Next year, she’ll be teaching a course on disability studies for undergraduate students. As someone with vision loss herself, Annika says the flexibility of her position allows her to get creative and find ways to insert accessibility into the campus culture. “We are limited by the institutional structures of campus, but we are able to chase lofty goals and find a way to work towards them,” Annika says. “I teach the graduate students what it means to bring accessibility into their teaching structure and work to build structures for accessibility within the campus system.”
Annika’s busy life goes beyond her work on campus; she is also a parent to two young children. Being a parent with vision loss challenged Annika in ways she hadn’t encountered before. “Doing everything from cleaning up after them to reading books to them is different,” Annika says. “Transportation is more complicated because now I’m not just moving myself around, but I have to move them around as well. From preschool to doctor’s visits, it isn’t easy. Kids like to move around a lot!”
Parenting with vision loss means finding ways to adapt. While Annika says she often can’t read children’s books, they can listen to talking books together. “It took a little figuring out at first and it might look a little different, but I can still be mom!”
You can learn more about the Council Scholarship program on our website at WCBlind.org/Events/Scholarships. Recipients of the 2025 Council Scholarships will be announced in the coming months. To stay up-to-date on this year’s recipients subscribe to our On Sight e-newsletter and follow us on social media.
