The Transition
Derrick W. Smith
CEC-DVI President, 2012-2013
While this issue is being published in
January 2014, I am taking this opportunity to address the organization one
last time as the president of DVI. I
have been a member of DVI since
2000 when I entered the field of special education for students with visual
impairments. In 2002, I attended my
first CEC Convention in Manhattan,
New York where I attended my first
DVI General Business Meeting. It was
there that my mentor, Dr. Mary Jean
Sanspree, introduced me to many
leaders of in the field, people who literally wrote
every textbook and article I had been reading in
my coursework. To be honest, I was in awe!
4
At that meeting, I met with my fellow students in
attendance and was elected as the student ambassador to the DVI Board. So the next day I was
asked to sit in a meeting with other leaders as a
peer. It was daunting but exciting at the same
time! I was part of something bigger than myself
and that was exciting. So I started a walk within
DVI that has led me from the student ambassador
to a director to treasurer to representative to
president-elect, president, and as of January 1,
2014, past-president. During that time I have had
