Hey everyone, I’m your host Katherine O’Brien. Today’s show is something really special because we have two guests who are both uh from the Redwood

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Seed Scholars program at UC Davis. Blake Mueller and Ishan Mishra. If you listen regularly, you’ll know that my studies

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in the PhD are all about varied pathways to success for autistic young adults.

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So, this is a super important opportunity to hear from two students on one such pathway. Very briefly, since

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2020, the seed program at University of California at Davis has been welcoming a cohort of 12 full-time non-deree

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students each year. And the program includes support from peer mentors around academic, social life, health and

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well-being, residential living on campus, and employment. And given that Davis is a place where people bike to

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get around, students are given bikes and to keep up with classes and academics, a

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computer as well. Um over the last 5 years, as this program has been uh

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rocking it up at UC Davis, um 27 campus departments have welcomed Redwood Seed Scholars into their classes alongside the rest of the UC Davis student body.

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classes uh in departments like African-American studies, military science, human development, drama,

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history, and more. The seed scholars also take part in internships on and off campus with the goal of finding occupations that are fulfilling.

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Students in this program live alongside other UC Davis students on campus housing, and they participate in clubs and organizations, and of course, they

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can bike around if they’d like. We’re here to talk about how students on the spectrum navigate college. And I do want to add that students in the seed

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scholars program can have other disabilities like Down syndrome or other intellectual disability. But for now,

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let’s hear about life on campus. Um, so Blake, right now I hear that you are a

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thirdyear scholar. So, why don’t we just go back in time for a second and tell me a little bit about where you were from

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and how you first um you know were in high school and found your way to UC Davis.

Chapter 2: Blake’s story: arriving, dorms, independence

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Um I’m living in college is awesome. It gets me opportunity to live independently as an

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adult and um and I I’m from Pleasanton, California.

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And um how I heard about this program um my mom has a friend named Carolyn that she was discussing with us about this program in Davis. It’s 4 years.

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Mhm.

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And um I wasn’t so sure. I said no. But after my after I I saw some other

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students that that were discussing how it feels like to be in the dorms. Um, I

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was thinking more about joining and um, what else? I

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And then after my interview, they just Beth and Sarah chose me and immediately.

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So, it was like an instant fit when you met the program staff and had your interview. Yeah.

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I see. And um so you went to high school in Pleasanton, which I know is in Northern California, so somewhat close

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to UC Davis. What were you doing uh before you came to campus?

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Um I was doing a different program. It It’s called Village High School in Pleasanton.

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It’s called Yeah. Yeah. I I’ve been doing it more of a day a day school experience.

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Yeah, I get it. Um, so let’s talk about what happened after you had the interview and

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it was an instant acceptance. Uh, how did it feel to arrive on campus and get started?

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Um, I didn’t know what to expect. Like I didn’t know how the dorms were going to feel like, like meeting people that I never met before.

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Yeah, that’s understandably scary. Mhm. How did it go for you?

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I’ve been overwhelmed a lot for for for freshman year. Like I just wanted to quit immediately.

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Oh, yeah.

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I’m sorry it was so overwhelming at first.

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It seems like you didn’t quit. What helped with that?

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Um after my PCP, they just told me how I was nailing it and and I was always on time. um addressing it probably for work.

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Mhm.

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And um always following directions and stay on tasks.

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So you got validating good good comments from other people.

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What’s a PCP by the way? I haven’t heard that before.

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Oh, so PCP stands for personal center plan meeting.

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Oh, okay. It just like talk talks about like how how well you’re doing and your family comes on Zoom or in person and

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and and the teachers record themselves like how well you’re doing like Yeah, that sounds really uplifting.

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Mhm.

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Okay. So, going to college meant a lot of change and like you said, you met a lot of new people. You felt overwhelmed.

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But how was the dorm? Um, did you have a roommate your first year? Uh, uh, you did? Yeah.

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I see. Uh, what was that experience like? Was that new? Uh, it was new. Yeah.

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Yeah. Did it go well? Um, we we got along well quickly when I started my freshman year.

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Um, and what about this year? Are you still living in dorms or has that changed?

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Um, so I stay at dorms in this program from freshman to sophomore year, but Mhm.

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but when I’m a junior, I’m I’m at the colleges at the apartments. Oh, so you’re in an apartment now? Yeah.

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Do you like the apartment better than the dorm? I do.

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Very cool. Do you have access to a kitchen there?

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Um, we have our own kitchen. Yeah. Oh, that’s great. And do you still go to the dining halls, too?

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Um, I still make meal plans there. Yeah. Okay. So, there’s a good balance. Mhm.

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Do you like um the support that you’re getting with housing? Is it Does it feel more comfortable now than it did at first?

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Um it um it feels more comfortable now. Now, now I’m used to it. That’s really good to hear.

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Mhm. Um, so I have been told that biking is the way to get around UC Davis, but I’ve never been.

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Are you enjoying the biking? Do you get around by bike? Um, I do, but I also have to be careful.

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There are like some bikes that come in fast.

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Yeah, I have been hit by a bike as a pedestrian. Um, and it is painful.

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Yeah. So definitely safety first, wear your helmet, all that. Mhm.

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So you also get to choose the classes you take. What are you taking right now?

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For my Davis class, I’m taking of geology of national parks.

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Okay. So a geology class with uh the mainstream UC Davis population. That

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sounds really cool. Um, we’ve got some great national parks in California, um, that I’m assuming have great rocks.

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Yeah, they they have pretty rocks.

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Yeah. Um, do you have a favorite national park or a favorite rock from this class?

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Um, I don’t think I have a favorite, but but I but I want to go to Yellowstone so bad.

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Yeah, I went to Yellowstone before the pandemic and it was beautiful. Uh I highly recommend it if you get a chance

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to travel there. It’s really something special. Yeah, it’s cool. It’s cool.

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Um are you taking um other classes within the seed scholars program this

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quarter besides the geology class? Um um I’m taking two foundational classes.

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One foundation class is less which is re eating. Yep.

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And then the other is and and and the and the other one is math.

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Favorite classes from last year. Uh last year in your second year, what did you take?

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I think my favorite one had to be um probably my Davis one. I took um I

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took a notions class. you were just learn about the tropical oceans.

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So, have there been any other favorite classes that you want to talk about?

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Like maybe classes that you took in your first year when you were just getting adjusted?

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Um, I really loved I took civics and social justice. Oh, yeah.

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That sounds really cool. Can you tell me a little bit about life outside of classes? um you know the social part

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what you do on campus or um around the town of Davis.

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I I usually grab food with with my friends on campus or go to downtown.

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There’s a place called the dining commons. That’s the cafe.

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And um there’s a place called Gunrock which I really like it. There are food trucks.

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M Mhm.

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Yum. Uh I understand you also have two jobs. Yes.

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Uh an onampus job and an internship. Let’s chat about the internship first.

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What do you do for your internship? Um well the two jobs I work at is the equestrian center in Siguno Services front desk.

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I see. Okay. So you have a internship at the equestrian center and then you have a desk job as well.

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Yes. Talk to me about the equestrian center. Are you working directly with horses?

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I am. Yeah. Well, right now I’m being a guardian angel TA there, like showing

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the students the ropes on where stuff is and how to groom a horse, how to bathe a horse.

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So, you have some leadership teaching others how to do horse care. That’s that rocks. Very cool.

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Thanks.

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How did you how did you learn um to to groom and care for horses?

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Um, they just told me the steps. Um, I’ve been working at the accession center since freshman year, so this is my third year of doing it.

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Did you grow up around horses at all?

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Um, yes, actually. My dad’s side, my my great grandma actually owned horses. She used to have a ranch.

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Oh, yeah. I I really love horses. I think they’re such special, interesting animals.

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Yeah. And then you also have a a desk job. Is that in the dorms? Um that is near the dorms. Yeah.

Chapter 3: Blake’s job

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I see. Okay. Um how does that work? What do you get to do there?

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I usually help help the students like reactivate their card or help help get

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them a temporary card if they get locked out of their dorm room.

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So, it’s troubleshooting access when students might like lose their ID or things like that. Yeah.

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What are some of the highlights of your time at UC Davis so far?

Chapter 4: Blakes highlights

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Um, so far I’ve been going to a lot of sports with my friends in Davis. I like football, basketball, and baseball.

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That’s awesome. any low lightss or or learning moments that you want to share for people to learn from?

Chapter 5: Blakes Challenges, Learnings & Tips

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For me, I’m learning how to like clean my own room, clean my own bathroom, and definitely

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clean clean the kitchen cuz I don’t want have any pest in there.

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Oh, yeah, definitely important. Uh, do you have any tips for other people that might be listening and considering a program like Redwood Seed Scholars?

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Um, for those of you who are interested in this program, I just want to wish you

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luck and you’ll do great in your um um foundational classes. Um, if you have

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trouble, you can always reach out to a mentor or tell Beth and Sarah if you don’t like

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the Davis class. Ju just let them know and they’ll find an other class that most interests you.

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That’s great advice. Thank you so much, Blake. No worries. All right.

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Um, and now we’ll switch it up. Ishan, it’s great to have you joining us as well for this conversation.

Chapter 6: Meet Ishaan – community college, tips and advice

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Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

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It’s our pleasure. So, you also graduated from high school and eventually found your way to UC Davis,

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but I heard that you also spent some time at community college. Can you tell me a bit about that?

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Yeah, I think uh community college for people who have intellectual disabilities or are looking for a

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program like the Rabbit C scholar program, I recommend they do maybe one year of a program. I did a program

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called TTW to transition to work for one year. After that, I wanted to see how I would do an algebra, but um

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the class got so hard, it just kind of yeah, went in the wrong direction basically. And um

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it was it was really hard. And you know, I just I was I just kept hoping for something to change.

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Then I took a gap year, did some traveling. Um, and then I said, “No, now it’s time to

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go to college.” You know, I have a younger sister who goes to Bernard of Colombia. Oh, wow.

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Um, she’s a junior, so but uh I’m the oldest. So, okay. Big brother.

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I like being the oldest. Um, yeah.

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Yeah. but similar challenges. I mean, first off to people who are listening, please give us a try. We’re a great

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program and we have the greatest support system in the entire Northern California area. Yeah. And we’re really close to Sacramento.

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So, no, go Kings. Go catch some Kings games. Um, but you know,

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such good things about UC Davis Redwood season.

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Yeah. And I mean, a great thing. So, it sounds like you’re from a family that loves scholarship.

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You know, your sister is also at a great college, but you know, community college didn’t quite work out in terms of the

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level of challenge versus the level of supports with the algebra.

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To me, honestly, it’s not it’s not what I was looking for at the time. Yeah.

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I was looking for more of a uh four-year program. Mhm.

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And I came along some websites uh actually when I was in high school, UC

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UC Davis, I wanted to apply to the Robert Seats program straight out of high school. Yeah. In 2022.

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Mhm.

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Um but then I thought, let me go to community college. I’ve already talked to the TTW program. Yeah.

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And so then I did that. um loved it and now I am just blessed to uh have the

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opportunity to be a UC Davis student and Redwood Root Seed Scholar and yes I do have a class with Blake. Uh we uh take literacy together.

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That’s awesome.

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Blake is actually the first uh person I met over summer camp.

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Tell me more about dorm life. How have you adjusted to living on campus?

Chapter 7: Ishaan’s dorm life experiences

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Yeah, that my first year I had a great roommate named Isaiah Baptiste. Um it was a great first year. Um I think

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definitely living in the dorms, doing my own laundry, I felt um that, you know, now I’m independent. Yeah. I take train home nowadays.

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Mhm. What do you like about the dorms? I know some people find the transition to living, you know, I I like the camaraderie that

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we have in here, us sophomores, we’ve done this, this is our second year in the dorms, and then the next two years

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will be in the apartments. So, um, we’re really looking forward to the apartments.

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Yeah. And what class are you taking for your UC Davis class right now?

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Right now, I am taking American autobiographies.

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I know we focused on one of Michelle Obama’s books, uh, The Former First Lady of the United States.

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Um, yeah, it’s been a long, uh, nine weeks. Uh, week 10.

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Week 10, we finished out the quarter in December. So, and then we have our, um, fall expo. So, Wow.

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That should be quickly.

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Yeah. This year, I think, is going to go by pretty fast. Sophomore year went by pretty fast. And by the time we all know it, us uh sophomores and juniors will be

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juniors and seniors and uh we’ll be on our way out. So um yeah, no, that’s a bit nerve-wracking for I think

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the juniors as they know that next year after this year they’ll be on their way out and moving up into the world. I have tremendous respect for Beth and Sarah.

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Our meeting when they interviewed me went very well. Um, on March 15th, I got the go-ahad that I was able to come into the program.

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That’s awesome.

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And I actually remember that special day Friday. It was a Friday on March 15th and I went home that day basically on that day that a year later.

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Yeah. To celebrate the anniversary of the acceptance.

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Yeah. So, it’s coming up again. The 2-year anniversary will come up again.

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and then the three, then the four, then you know, the five, the six, the seven, the eighth.

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Yeah. I mean, what a testament to how much this program means to you.

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Yeah. I think um this program something special. We’re building something here and uh it’s like we’re building our own

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uh our own Super Bowl team. So, it’s a great uh great uh thing that Beth and Sarah are doing.

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Um I could not agree more. What about the courses? Have they been challenging?

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You know, how is it earning college grades?

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Some courses have been very challenging, but uh I I took a nutrition class winter quarter, which I passed with an A.

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Oh, great.

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Um and then I took a uh English class spring quarter, freshman year, which I passed with a B. Okay.

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So, um looking at my overall year, I feel I have a routine now.

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Yeah. And in the winter quarter, I’ll go to the gym more, more, more, more, more.

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Just keep building on the confidence, on the skills that you’ve already mastered.

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And it, you know, it sounds like socially you’ve made some great community in the program. Is that going well?

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Yeah. Making friends.

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Uh going well. Um my friend, uh Paris and I, we went to uh former graduates of the program, a couple alums. Uh, we went

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to their apartment, live in Caris. They work for the program now. Cool. Um, we made some Mexican fried rice.

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Yeah. But, you know, I I really wanted to take some time out of my day and hop on this podcast and really just, you

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know, talk about our great program, but we have a UC Davis. I heard you have an internship.

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Yes. Uh, working with the volleyball team. the uh right now um they are trying to fight

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for the number one seed in our Big West Conference. Next year they’ll be moving to the Mountain West. So um

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that’s where our division gets tougher and tougher and um we’re looking to bring our UC Davis swagger into a new um into a new level.

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So yeah, to the big leagues. Ishan, it sounds like the program has been fabulous for you and you enjoy it.

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What are you thinking of doing after college? Like what’s the what’s the ambition next?

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You know, um yeah, you know, I haven’t thought that far. I’m just trying to get to the four years of college. Um living in the moment, enjoying.

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I have two I have two years left in this great program. And uh I’d like to leave this program on a on a

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somewhat high note to anybody listening out there who wants to come to UC Davis,

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not even to be part of the overseas program, but our our big family that we have here, you know, apply. You know, we’re looking for new international students, students.

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Who knows, maybe one day this podcast will interrupt uh days of our lives.

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Yes. And if you have a passion for inclusion, you can find community on campus at UC Davis or at other schools as well.

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But yeah, if you go to the University of Connecticut or the University of Delaware or wherever you go to school and you have an intellectual disability,

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I think this podcast can really help you talk about it. Yeah, check us out on autismgo.org.

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And thank you so much, Ishan. And a a thank you back to Blake as well for sharing your stories. I think it’s so cool.

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Um and I’m so glad that the program has been such a a positive force in your lives.

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Yeah. I mean, thank you for having the both of