Recent WNMU graduate (BS ’24) and current graduate student in Education Tia Holyan was inspired to become a special education teacher by observing the experiences of a friend when she was growing up. “One of my good friends that I grew up with since kindergarten never really had a special education teacher that was really hands-on and patient,” she said. “I felt like he missed out on a lot of the instruction that should have been provided. Back then, they didn’t have all the resources that we do now.”
Those observations prompted Holyan, who is Diné, to take a position with the Bureau of Indian Education. “I have been working with the Bureau of Indian Education for going on eight years,” she said, “so I have been working with students in the residential setting—students who are emotionally disturbed. I did that for three or four years and after that I transitioned into administration.”
Now that she has her bachelor’s degree from WNMU, Holyan is in her first year working as a certified special education teacher at a school that serves K-3 students.
Holyan said that what she enjoys most about her work is the children she teaches. She also values the relationships she has built with students’ families. “I have built such a strong connection with the community I work in now,” she said. “The families really need resources here. They haven’t had a certified special education teacher at this school for the past three or four years.”
Holyan said that in her role, she especially appreciates “being able to educate families, especially our young parents, about their child with special needs and how to advocate for them. That is what drives me every day—being able to share information with them.”
Getting to this point in her career was not without challenges, said Holyan. “I took a while to get my undergrad degree,” she explained. “I wasn’t the typical college student. I had my son when I started hitting my degree hard, so I was a single parent trying to work and go to school and raise my child.”
She was able to juggle all of this because of the online program at WNMU. “It is amazing how WNMU works with students online and with students all over the country,” Holyan said. “I think it is a blessing to be able to work full time and take classes full time. I wouldn’t be able to do that without the university making accommodations.”
Of her decision to start graduate school so soon after earning her undergraduate degree, Holyan explained, “Once I got my undergraduate degree I felt I finally had some momentum, so I thought I might as well keep going.”
But she is also motivated by a deep desire to keep learning. “I feel like there is always so much more to learn,” she said. “I like absorbing as much information as I can.”
In particular, Holyan said, she enjoys learning new strategies for helping students to read. “I love the reading program,” she said, mentioning in particular the classes taught by Assistant Professor of Reading and Literacy Tamara Ogilvie. “She knows so much about reading and teaching students how to read and how important it is to teach students how to read. … You can tell she is really passionate about it.”
Holyan said that she also appreciates how the Education program at WNMU places high expectations on students while teaching them practical skills. In particular, she said, “The rigorous writing expectations really helped prepare me for the working world.”
As she works toward her master’s degree, Holyan said that she is also helping to spread the word about the online programs available at WNMU. “I recommend WNMU to a lot of my colleagues that are going back to school,” she said.