Who am I?

Hello! My name is Devon Bernhagen and I am from a small town in central Wisconsin (tell yer folks I says hi!). I am someone who loves sports, has a dream to open a dog farm when I retire, I love visiting new places and learning new perspectives, and I enjoy activities that provide a thrill like downhill skiing a double black that leads to a cliff— on accident, of course. I crave authentic and deep conversations with others because I am naturally someone who asks the questions like “why” and “I wonder how..” a dozen times in the span of 10 minutes.

I have arguably the worlds cutest dog duo and their names are Owen & Opal. My husband and I built a van that we used to live in for short amounts of time and after two years we sold it. Now we travel via our truck camper and air bnbs when we can. We joke around and say that we travel so we can give our dogs the best life and search for the town with the best dog park so they can be happy.

According to 16 personalities, I am an ENFP and the quote from the synopsis on the career description for my personality type couldn’t fit me more perfectly “Can’t I fly helicopters AND be an oceanographer who writes songs and cooks?” I took this test because my now husband told me about it the first day we met and this test helped me analyze myself in the context of what I wanted to do for a career. I had never considered become a teacher prior to taking this test but realized after taking it that the role of a teacher is actually several roles in one and that could satisfy my need for new experiences each day.

My Journey in education

In 2017, I started volunteering for Big Brothers and Big Sisters as a mentor for at-risk youth. The experience was very rewarding and it made me wonder how I could continue to do similar work for disadvantaged youth. This lead me on the path to pursue my Special Education teaching license that fall. Fast forward to present day and I have been a Special Education teacher for all grade levels, in rural towns in Wisconsin & Colorado, as well as in the online environment for a virtual school. Shortly after finishing my educator training in 2018, I started a dual masters degree program for Special Education and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education (CLDE) through the University of Colorado Boulder.

My background, work experiences, and education have all fueled my passion for teaching students who don’t feel they can be successful, for students who aren’t given equitable opportunities to learn in public schools, for students who come from diverse backgrounds, for students who have unique needs, and for students who haven’t experienced/had an inclusive education. Having worked in public education for 5 years, I have become frustrated with its limitations for students who deserve more. My experience working in public education has pushed me to wanting to pursue something where I can have a stronger impact that isn’t limited by the red tape present in public education. I am focused on helping students and families with their education journey in a more individualized manner without the barriers of the school setting and that’s why I started my business as a private tutor.

My Photography Journey

Oh boy, where do I start? Do I write about my first camera I got sometime around 2006 and how I was obsessed with documenting everything and then posting it to my Myspace? Or do I write about my love of wildlife photography that started with me using my phone as a camera through a spotting scope? But it all really begins when Andy, my then fiancé & now husband, convinced me to spend my tax return money on a fancy 800 mm lens so I could take better pictures of wildlife. I’ve learned a lot since then and have experienced countless missed photos of exciting wildlife encounters because I didn’t check my settings. You live and you learn, and hopefully you laugh while doing it.

Eventually wildlife photography turned into photography sessions for my friends/family for engagements, weddings, maternity shots, newborn photos, important life events, family sessions, senior photos, professional headshots, and even some sports photography. Probably 90% of all photography sessions I’ve done have been done with my lifelong partner/teacher, aka, my husband. I think we make a great team because he is more introverted and truly enjoys being behind the camera, and I am the more extroverted one who engages with our clients to pose them and make sure we get the shots they want. I am a visionary and can dream up how I want a shot to look and Andy is the mastermind behind how I can achieve the shot. Even though photography isn’t a full time job for either of us, it is something we both enjoy doing together.