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What brought you to this
work? I first entered college in Army
ROTC and was a cadet for a little under 2 years before being medically
discharged. I first attended university as a health science major with a
pre-physician assistant track. In 2012 I enrolled in a human services minor and
then dropped my pre-PA track about six months later. I started volunteering and
working with persons who have disabilities and loved the work I was doing. In
the beginning of 2014 I started volunteering in an elementary classroom for
children who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. I fell in love and
about a week after I had started, a Teach For America (TFA) representative
emailed me due to my vast involvement on and off campus; the timing couldn't
have been better. After talking with the recruiter I immediately applied to
TFA.
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What fires you up about working with
students each and every day? Children are our future and teachers change lives;
teachers change the world. Students have unending possibilities and I am so
excited to help them discover their love and their passion. The thought of
being there the moment a student gets that bright look in their eye and claims
‘I did it!’ is exactly what gets me excited about working with students each
and every day.
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What about your identity informs
the way you approach this work?
o What
was your experience with public education growing up? I grew up in upstate NY
where I attended three different public schools in three different
towns/cities. My school is in the top 10% of all US high schools, as stated
from their website, “The silver ranking of #1,521 places Greenwich in the top
10% of all US high schools. They were
ranked #120 in New York State and #63
among public schools in NYS.”
o
What experiences have you had with
institutionalized oppression? When I first entered university and started
making friends many conversations were about what activities each individual
did in high school. I learned that though I felt my school had a fair amount of
activities and resources, many of my peers were given a lot more opportunities
through their schools. When reflecting on my schooling I can remember teachers
being on strike and not having a teacher for weeks at a time. I remember
sub-par classrooms and minimal materials.
o
Have there been specific events or
instances in your life that have shaped what you are personally convicted or
passionate about? I am medically trained and went to university intending to
work in the medical field. My studies led me to shift my passion to education,
specifically in relation to equal access to all. Education has such a large
affect on a person’s health status. I remember in one class we were looking at
research studies that showed persons who were given early childhood education,
pre-k, were only slightly more likely to be employed, have finished secondary
education, etc.; the most phenomenal finding was those persons were
significantly healthier than those who did not receive pre-k education.
