What made you want to become a teacher?
Well, I was always helping my peers throughout middle school and then especially in high school, particularly with math and English. I would proofread essays for people and was known for being a good writer. My peers eventually started saying, "I really get it when you explain it" and "You should be a teacher" and things like that. I started to listen. When I was seventeen, I went to a college fair, debating at the time whether I wanted to be an English major or English Education major. And somebody said, "Oh, lots of people with English degrees end up working in the business world." My mom gasped, because she works in the business world and hates it, so that's when I decided to major in Education instead.
Tell me a story about an influential teacher in your own life.
This isn't usually the first person that comes to mind, but looking back . . . I can't even remember her name, but there was this speech and language pathologist who had to work with me through second grade, because I had a bit of a lisp and couldn't say certain sounds. (i.e. I would pronounce the name Katie as Tatie.) She worked with me and another student for years, and I overcame it. In retrospect, I owe her so much. Because if I had never had someone working with me to overcome those speech difficulties, I may never have developed into the person I am, may never have gotten my job as a teacher, etc. I doubt I would have been confident enough to become a teacher if I'd never overcome my impediment, so I owe a lot to her for that. I do wish I remembered her name!