Special Education, Campus Ministry Marked Senior’s Time at BVU
Brittany Boeset was drawn to BVU for its special education program. During her four years here she enjoyed the camaraderie among the special education professors and through those she met in Campus Ministry.
Brittany Boeset’s attraction to Buena Vista University emanated from two distinct areas: campus ministry and the special education department.
“BVU is the only University in Iowa where a student can major in special education,” she says. “That was so important to me.”
Campus ministry provided a warm welcome and a connection that also communicated to Boeset that she’d found a home in BVU.
“The experience at the elementary school level in Storm Lake pushed me out of my comfort zone... It showed me what I can accomplish and what skills I’ll need help to refine as I continue to grow in the profession.”
Brittany Boeset
“I sought out campus ministry when I transferred to BVU, because it was an aspect of campus life that was so important to both me and my sister, Erica,” she says. “The people in campus ministry took us in immediately and made us feel like we were a part of something. I miss those people and everyone in special education.”
Boeset, a Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School graduate from Dows, student-taught for a portion of this semester at Storm Lake Elementary School. She was about to start her in-person student-teaching at East Sac County High School in Lake View when COVID-19 closed schools across Iowa. She has finished the semester working with her lead teacher online.
“The experience at the elementary school level in Storm Lake pushed me out of my comfort zone, which allowed me to learn much more about myself. It showed me what I can accomplish and what skills I’ll need help to refine as I continue to grow in the profession,” says Boeset, who has since accepted a special education position at Storm Lake Elementary.
As she completes her student-teaching and her coursework from afar, Boeset reflects on the lifelong friends she made and the senior traditions she’ll miss, activities like the Senior Wine & Dine. She also shares thoughts on the impact made by her professors, people she’ll also miss dearly. “Dr. Karin Strohmyer (Associate Professor of Education, Special Education) and Erica Boettcher (Assistant Professor of Special Education) and the others involved in special education at BVU created a great group within the special education department. I remember how anyone could sit in their offices and cry, or celebrate, or have a person to talk to. I will miss those times.”