Shayna Wederath
Former Council Scholarship Recipient Shayna Wederath didn’t plan to move to the Madison area. Shayna started her college experience at UW-Stevens Point, but quickly found it difficult to utilize the campus’s disability office. After moving to Minneapolis to work with Blind, Inc. for a few months before the center closed, she returned to Wisconsin to be closer to her social support system. Shayna then worked at an afterschool program in Marion, Wisconsin, where she decided to give college another chance. Earlier this year, she moved to Middleton to start classes and look for a job that complemented her education.
Shayna started classes at Northern Technical College (NTC) this fall as an online student and hopes to transfer to Madison College in the near future for an Associate degree in Human Services. The plan is to use that as a steppingstone toward a bachelor’s degree in social work down the road. “Classes are going really well!” Shayna says. “I really struggled with the disability center at UW-Stevens Point, but at a smaller technical college like NTC, I feel like they are able to really get to know me and my needs.”
While in school, Shayna is also getting hands-on experience in Madison working for the Bee Balm Learning Center. She works as a float, filling in wherever she’s needed as a substitute or extra hand for children ages 2 to 6. Shayna says that the center has been welcoming since she began in the spring and has been very open and accommodating to her vision loss. “It’s a very close and diverse community, and there are actually some parents who have vision loss who are currently sending their children to the center,” Shayna says. “That helps the other parents understand that I’m fully capable of helping their children. We even have two dolls, one that uses a cane and one with a guide dog, that help the kids understand vision loss. It’s such a cool environment.” Working at the center is also exposing Shayna to children from all walks of life, which she says helps her better understand what career path she may want to take in the future.
Shayna says her educational journey has been a little different from other young adults’, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t making progress toward her life goal. “You really dictate your own life even in the face of things you can’t control,” Shayna says. “It’s about what you do and what you learn. Some people call things failures, but they’re just roadblocks that you can work around.”
The Council has been awarding scholarships to postsecondary students who are blind or low vision for decades. You can find more information about our scholarship program and check out our Meet the 2025 Scholarship Recipients video at WCBlind.org/Events/Scholarships.