Nick Godwin, a young man in CDS’s Career and Life Studies Certificate (CLSC) program, told his story as a CLSC student and campus resident in the December 2017 issue of the UD Messenger, an alumni magazine with a circulation of 170,000.

The article, “Ready for the World: A day in the life of a Blue Hen with a bright future,” follows Nick as he navigates the academic work, career preparation, life skills growth and campus recreation that comprise his time in the two-year postsecondary program for young adults with intellectual disabilities.

It starts in Nick’s room in a UD residence hall, where, as a participant in the two-year-old CLSC residential program, he lives full-time. Throughout the piece, he demonstrates his dedication to living independently. He is shown, for example, working with an undergraduate mentor to balance his schedule between his classes and the two jobs he’s working as part of CLSC’s career training emphasis, a paid position in a UD dining hall and an internship in a community senior center. The article also looks at Nick’s participation in an undergraduate Ultimate Frisbee class, highlighting the CLSC philosophy of inclusion.

Nick’s experience in CLSC to date, the article says, has shown him that “the label officially applied to him and others—‘intellectual disability’—was not necessarily a definition of all he was, or what he could become. He was … a college student—just as full of promise and doubts, just as scared and excited, as any other.”