When Madison Gardner set out from her home in southern California to attend college, she did not expect to have her first college shutter after her first year, and she could not foresee that she would struggle to overcome two concussions during her university career. But Gardner has not only met these challenges; she managed to excel academically while doing so.
Gardner began her higher education at a small, private college in New York. When that school closed due to financial problems, Gardner had to look for an alternative and found her way to WNMU. Here, she joined the volleyball team, but concussive injuries to her head ended that career and made everything about school more difficult. “That was my biggest challenge,” Gardner said, “It took a lot of discipline and time management to complete my coursework on time.”
With a long-time interest in working with disabled populations, she chose to double-major in Rehabilitation Services and Psychology and has marveled at the surprising intersections between the two disciplines. “Everything I was learning was so interconnected,” said Gardner, “It really gave more of a whole-person view of disability.”
In particular, she has enjoyed working with the faculty at WNMU. “I love the professors,” said Gardner, “They have always been super supportive and available.” She has also appreciated that the size of WNMU has allowed her to “work with professors closely and to meet my classmates.”
Gardner has worked especially closely with Associate Professor of Psychology Mark Chu, and she conducted research mentored by him that was funded by the Student Research and Professional Development program. In April, she traveled to California to present her research, “Attitudes Toward Autistic Individuals in Employment,” at the Western Psychological Association Convention. “I was so nervous, but it went really well,” Gardner said of her first experience presenting at an academic conference.
After graduating this May, Gardner will be relocating to the Phoenix area to start work as a case manager for the Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilities.