Scholarship profile: Vanessa Zepeda

Aspiring special ed administrator wants the best for her “kiddos”

By California State University, Bakersfield

June 15^th, 2021

This is the third in a series of stories about some of the CSUB Alumni Association's 2021-2022 scholarship recipients.

Vanessa Zepeda admires the work her principal and superintendent in the Standard School District do to support special ed students, but still sees gaps in the system.

Many of her moderately to severely disabled middle schoolers come to school not knowing their letters, how to tie their shoes or how to comb their hair. Her nonverbal “kiddos,” as she affectionately calls them, have unequal access to communication devices like iPads that drastically improve their ability to convey their needs and wants.

“I want to try and give these kids in the Oildale community everything we can to make them as successful as possible once they move up to high school,” Zepeda says, “because I know all of them want to make something of themselves.”

Zepeda hopes to achieve those things by continuing her education and, eventually, going into special education administration. She earned her liberal studies degree in 2019, credential to teach mildly to moderately disabled children in 2021, and now is working toward her master’s degree in education.

But before moving up into administration, Zepeda wants at least five years of classroom teaching under her belt. She’s well on her way.

During the 2019-2020 school year, Zepeda taught emotionally disturbed children in the Bakersfield City School District, many of whom have a hard time controlling their anger due to trauma. This past year, she pivoted to teaching moderately to severely disabled students, ones with conditions such as autism and Down syndrome, at Standard Middle School.

And if that wasn’t challenging enough, she did it in the middle of a global pandemic.

Zepeda started out the school year teaching virtually, but her students struggled so much that the school brought most of them back to campus. From October to March, Zepeda led the only class allowed to be on school grounds full-time, though some students continued to do distance learning. It was “exhausting,” she said.

“With lesson planning I had to think, ‘What am I going to do in person, what am I going to do online?’ she said, adding that in-person instruction was much, much easier. “But thankfully, all these programs started to pop up that made it easier to be interactive and engaging online.”

Zepeda is now teaching summer school on campus and hoping to enjoy all in-person instruction in the fall.

Zepeda is teaching summer school for middle schoolers at Standard Middle School in Oildale this summer. Here she is working with one of her summer school “kiddos.”

Zepeda’s quest is as much about making something of herself despite challenges and trauma as it is helping others do so.

Zepeda says that after graduating from eighth grade, she revealed to her mother that a former family member had sexually assaulted her for years. The revelation that “her worst nightmare came to life with her kids” sent her mom into such a deep depression that she took medical retirement.

All throughout high school and college, Zepeda took care of her mother while also juggling academics, sports and other extracurriculars.

At Liberty High, Zepeda’s aggressiveness and jumping skills earned her a center position on the basketball team, which normally would go to someone much taller. At CSUB, she helped revive the LGBTQ+ Network, a student social club for members of the community and their allies.

“It really took a toll on our family,” Zepeda said of the news she revealed and the criminal court case that sent her abuser to prison. “But I’ve tried not to let that define my future. I try to use that as a push and a motivation to become something of myself and not let that hold me back from what I know I’m capable of being.”

Vanessa Zepeda stands outside the CSUB Education building. — Zepeda is grateful for a high school Spanish teacher who helped her apply to CSUB and then secure the financial aid she needed. At first, she “didn’t know where to start” embarking on a college education.

What Zepeda has also been capable of doing is raising awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and the visibility of LGBTQ+ students at CSUB. Through the Network she helped put on an Expressions Night event where people told their coming-out story or showed off a talent and the campus’ first MasQUEERade Ball.

“I really think it’s important to raise awareness because a lot of students don’t think their schools are supportive or they don’t publicly see it,” she said, adding she does feel a great deal of support at CSUB. “So they feel like they can’t be themselves.”

Zepeda has also guest-lectured in CSUB liberal studies classes on ways in which teachers can support LGBTQ+ students amid a changing legal landscape. Many educators are afraid to touch the subject for fear of drawing complaints or lawsuits, but there are subtle yet effective ways to show support and strong legal protections for doing so, she said.

“I always tell people that even just a poster or adding your pronouns to your email signature will open up a student’s eyes, or maybe they will ask questions,” she said. “If you’re educated enough, you can answer them. Or if you don’t know, you can always find the answer.”