After earning an undergraduate degree in Psychology at UW – Green Bay this past spring, Campbellsport native and Council Scholarship Recipient Kaylee Mueller is staying in Green Bay as she begins her Master’s program in Social Work. While she’s staying at the same school and knows all the same people, Kaylee says that starting graduate school feels like a real next step in her life. “I feel like I can tell that people see me as more of an adult, instead of someone they’re just helping out,” Kaylee says. “It’s equal parts thrilling and terrifying! But I’m really excited to see what the next two years bring.”
Two years ago, Kaylee helped start a new group on campus called the Ability Allies, a disability culture group. In its second year, the group met monthly to talk about living and thriving with a disability and worked with other groups on campus to put on outreach events. “We collaborated with the student housing office on campus to help put on a silent disco,” Kaylee says. “We taught them about invisible disabilities and made a lot of good connections.” Kaylee won’t have as much time to run the group this year, she says, but will stay on as the group’s vice president to give advice when needed.
As part of her Master’s program, Kaylee will be working in an on-campus office called Student Access and Success. There, she will help acclimate first-year students to the college setting. Kaylee had worked as a peer mentor in the past, but now she’ll be overseeing those peer mentors and helping them connect with their new students. “That first year is so important, because they face so many new and unfamiliar things that can stand in their way of graduating,” Kaylee says. “Students are most likely to drop out during their first year; we are really looking to get them over that hump and increase their odds of graduating.”
Many students go to school with the intention of helping people but might not know how to do it. Kaylee says she’s always been a helper, and getting a Master’s in Social Work is her way of helping guide people to what they want to do to help others. “Working with people to figure out their career path and navigate their life path has always been a passion of mine,” Kaylee says. “I really like working with college-age students as they navigate the next step in their life.”
As a student with vision loss, she says that high school students who are blind or low vision need to go to school not to please others, but for themselves. “Like a lot of things in life, school can be difficult with vision loss,” Kaylee says. “But at the same time, it’s so much fun. You can meet so many great people if you’re willing to put yourself out there and connect with great resources that will really help you thrive.”
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 Scholarship Recipients video at WCBlind.org/Events/Scholarships.