Kayla Davis, ClemsonLIFE Teacher
Kayla Davis is a ClemsonLIFE professor for juniors has been involved with Clemson University, as well as the ClemsonLIFE program, for some time. Kayla Davis attended Clemson University for her undergraduate years, and got her bachelor’s degree in special education. Davis said she knew from a young age that she wanted to be a special education teacher, saying, “I knew I wanted to be a special ed teacher since I was 12. So, I like, I grew up with a neighbor with autism and so she like inspired me. I always wanted to be a teacher, I came from a family of teachers, um or educators, you know principals, assistant principals, um administration, different roles in education. So, I always wanted to do that, but then growing up with my neighbor, that’s kind of when I decided um that I wanted to do special ed specifically.” Davis’ inspiration to become a special education teacher came from her autistic neighbor that she babysat for while growing up, volunteering in classes in middle/high school, and coaching special Olympics. Helping people, or specifically students with disabilities is Davis’ passion, and she lights up when talking about her students. Davis became involved with the ClemsonLIFE program when she was a freshman in college at Clemson. The ClemsonLIFE program was relatively new at the time, starting out with just five students, and Davis was elated to see that volunteering with the students was an opportunity she would have. Davis talked about finding out the ClemsonLIFE program existed by saying, “…I went to tiger prowl and I saw a booth, and I had no idea that that was on Clemson’s campus, and then it was like the biggest part of my college career.” The ClemsonLIFE program has many opportunities for students to volunteer, and it is truly amazing to see the impact that it had on Davis throughout her college career. This year is Davis’ first year as a teacher, and she says every day is different, but that there are classes she teaches such as, “…apartment class, cooking and cleaning, um we have social skills and employment, like group counseling, drivers ed, and then like individual check ins, and those are all in the morning, and then we do workouts as well. And in the afternoon, the students all go to their jobs.” The ClemsonLIFE AP students all have jobs that they go to and learn valuable skills doing, so that they may become employed after their time at the ClemsonLIFE program. Davis talked about how employment for ClemsonLIFE students is achieved over their years there, saying, “So it basically like builds the level of employment throughout their four years, so freshman year they start off just like in an employment class, and then they do um just like a little sampling in the spring of different types of jobs, and then sophomore year they have a rotation of internships that they do.” Davis also has specific classes that she teaches, such as cooking, where she helps the students to budget and eat a proper and nutritious diet, and she also teaches social skills, apartment cleaning, and then individual check-ins every week so the students can see their progress. Davis said the best part about her job is, “…I just love the students so much, like they just, they just bring so much joy to like everybody on campus, um and I think it’s so incredible to see how successful the students are that like come out of the program.” Davis finds her job so rewarding because of her love and compassion for her students, as well as seeing her students succeed and have so many opportunities during and after their time with the ClemsonLIFE program.[1]
[1]Swift, Taylor, and Kayla Davis. “Interview with Kayla Davis.” 6 Nov. 2019.