Pacific Index

Senior Ryley Vickroy tells what it’s like being the only special education graduate this year—and why she loves what she does  

   “I’ve grown in every single way imaginable,” expresses senior Ryley Vickroy as she takes a trip down memory lane to her first year at Pacific. “That’s because of I think the classes I’ve taken, my experiences with working in the classroom, my journey with all my friendships since freshman year…and with softball, navigating that and becoming the person I am with that.” 

   Vickroy is an education major, minoring in disability studies, who has spent the past few months working day in and day out in a local school. “Since Jan Term has started, I’ve been in the classroom full time—from the time my cooperating teacher steps in the building to the time she leaves,” she explains. In lieu of a traditional capstone project, education majors get to take a more hands-on approach and spend months working in classrooms. “For me, in special ed, my experience has been in a K through 6^th life skills special education classroom.” 

   Each day, she works with a range of ages and abilities and teaches a mix of academic curriculum and life skills. In the fall term, she was required to attend a minimum of 45 hours of classroom observation, but since January she’s stepped into the shoes of teacher. “I’ve taken pretty much the lead and now I teach academic groups all day long as well as social skills and life skills,” Vickroy details. “Then I also just do a lot of classroom management, give students the breaks they need, the downtime they need, the sensory access they need, and all of that.” 

It’s easy to see that Vickroy loves what she does. Her face lights up talking about the kids she works with as she describes their obsessions with iPads, buttons, and books. “I learn new things about them every single day,” she smiles, pulling up a photo of her graduation stole pressed with pastel imprints of her student’s hands. “As well as how to teach kids with their abilities and their needs.” A lot of her experience has been learning technical things like how to run a classroom stuffed with paraeducators, educational assistants, and students, but her favorite part of the gig is, “Definitely just spending time with the kids, learning more about what makes them happy, and how I can support them…” 

   Through this experience, Vickroy has gotten to see the true value of her work. “We have a kid who refused to do work for me,” she recalls, referencing her start in the classroom several months ago. “Now, fast forward, this kid is excited to do academic work…so that makes me feel good as a teacher.” 

   Vickroy always felt that teaching was her calling, but specializing in supporting people with disabilities was brought on later. “Working with people with disabilities started in high school. I volunteered in Special Olympics, and fast forward to college, I got involved with Unified Sports at Pacific and really loved it,” she shares. She also works as a direct support professional (DSP) for adults with disabilities and even helps run a summer camp that offers extended school year services to kids with disabilities. 

   “So, I’ve done a lot of work with people with disabilities and the progress that I am able to see everyday is just very rewarding,” she expresses, pulling up more photos, this time of the kids she’s worked with, showing them off proudly. 

   Aside from her outstanding work as a DSP, with Unified sports, and as an educator, Vickroy mentions that softball was another huge part of her experience at Pacific. “I played softball for three years and I was able to create a lot of friendships and also working on time management skills for balancing sports and academics,” she says. Her decision to leave the team after her junior season was a difficult one, but she always talks about her experience with unmistakable love and appreciation.

   “Pacific’s given me a lot of great opportunities,” she candidly says. “I’m the only special education major, or graduate, but with that, there were a lot of people in my education department that helped me even though I was the only one in my specific field of study.” She openly expresses her appreciation for everyone who helped her reach graduation. After the big day on May 16, she says she’s looking forward to finding a job in the field she loves so much. 

“I’m going to be really, really sad leaving my kids from my field experience,” Vickroy adds, bringing light to some of the difficulties graduation can bring. “On my last official day of school, the day before my graduation, I’m going to go in my cap and gown and take pictures with them.”    Leaving behind the kids she’s grown so close to over the past months is one of the only things she’s dreading about graduation, but she plans to have one last hurrah with the group and even promises to continue checking in with them  over the years, even after she’s graduated. “I just didn’t really think student teaching would be like this,” she introspectively reflects, smiling. “It’s even better than I could have imagined.”