In secondary school through college, wrestler Bill Closson was always a champion – once a state champion and twice an All-American.

Today, Closson, a graduate student at NIU, is working toward a long-term goal – to teach the blind and visually impaired.

Closson is taking courses in the vision disabilities program with a double major of teaching for the visually impaired as well as orientation and mobility.

“He’s a very bright individual,” said Gaylen Kapperman, vision program coordinator in the College of Education’s Department of Teaching and Learning. “I remember the first course he took with me. In the first couple of tests, people were just surprised. Everybody has their stereotypes. Here, we have this very large, athletic guy and he’s getting the top grade on some of the hardest tests.”

Closson earned his bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he served as community service chairman in his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, and worked with the Boys and Girls Club. From this positive experience, Closson said he decided he wanted to continue working with kids.

“While I was an assistant wrestling coach at Kutztown, the head wrestling coach was actually a vision teacher,” Closson said. “Through my interactions with him, I gained exposure in this field and was intrigued by it.”

With plans of a 2005 graduation, Closson will be taking an internship this summer at Hines Veterans Administration Center in Hines and will student-teach in the fall.

“There is a desperate need for teachers all across the nation,” Kapperman said. “We have one of the very best programs in the country at NIU. We’re recruiting all over the nation as well as all over Illinois. It’s very difficult to find people, especially men, working in this field because it’s a field that most people don’t even know exists.”

Scott Karli, a graduate student in special education and vice president of NIU’s chapter of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, said Closson has personality traits that will aid him in his field.

“He’s a very take-charge, organized guy,” Karli said. “He’s very good at making sure things get done and that goes a long way.”

Closson, who resides in Aurora, began taking classes part-time in 2003.

While attending Plum High School in Pennsylvania, Closson was the Pennsylvania state champion in the heavyweight division and a junior national champion in freestyle wrestling. Closson also went to the 1996 Final Freestyle Olympic Trials where he finished in sixth place.

After graduating from Lehigh, Closson attended Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, where he received post-grad certification in social studies and coached wrestling.

For the last year, Closson has been a volunteer and the president of the NIU Chapter of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. On Friday and Saturday, AER will hold “Taste of College,” which will bring in blind and visually impaired high school students from Illinois who are interested in attending college. Times are yet to be announced.