Hometown: New Bern, North Carolina

Major: Senior elementary education major

Graduating: May 2022

Why did you choose to attend GSW?
 I chose to attend GSW because I knew I wanted to go to a smaller school that wasn’t too far from my parents but also not too close. When I stepped on campus for my first tour, I fell in love with the family feel and how comfortable I already felt.

Please list your University highlights, achievements, leadership and awards.

• Zephyr student tour guide, 3 years
• Black Student Union Community Outreach Director, 3 years
• Dean's List, 4 semesters
• Kappa Delta Phi member, Social Media Chair, 2 years
• National Society of Leadership and Success member, 2 years, Vice President (Spring 2021)
• Student worker with GSW Pre-K, 2 years
• Storm Spotter, 2 years
• Thunder Camp counselor (Summer 2020 & 2021)
• Delta Sigma Theta member, 1 year

What have you learned from other GSW students?
I have learned since the moment I stepped on campus to get involved! Getting involved is heavily stressed, especially to incoming freshman. I am so glad that I had people emphasizing the importance of it, though, because it allowed me to branch out and get involved in organizations and leadership roles I don’t think I ever would have without being given that push.

What has been your greatest challenge?
I would say my greatest challenge has been time management. Since freshman year, I have taken on more and more roles on campus which means more responsibility and involvement. I love that I decided to take on these commitments, but I can say there has been times where I felt like I had too much going on between classes, social life, and organizations and leadership roles. It can be challenging but, I am glad I have the support team that I do between family and friends to help keep me levelheaded and encouraged in all the things I do.

Who is your favorite professor or staff member and why?
I am going to name two professors that deserve all the shout outs in the world! My favorite professors are Mrs. Jennifer Dickens and Ms. Kay Sassi. They have truly had the most and best impact on me since being here at GSW. I had Professor Sassi as one of my first teachers freshman year, by default actually, but I am so glad our paths crossed. From then on, I only registered for her classes for English, and I learned so much about writing and real world things that I never did before. As far as Professor Dickens, she started off as just one of my bosses in GSW Pre-K, and now I have been fortunate enough to have classes taught by her in the program. Her teaching style has been the best thing I have experienced in the program. The way she relates back to the classroom, gives us real world examples and keeps it real with us has only provided us that much more confidence as we continue on in the program before graduating and having our own classrooms. 

Why did you choose your major?
I chose Elementary Education as my major because I could not see myself doing anything different. Before college, I will be honest, teaching was something I did not think I would ever want to do. But I knew I loved working with kids, so I tried finding anything else other than teaching that still involved kids. That lasted until my senior year, when I had the opportunity to be a volunteer teacher in a Pre-K classroom during my senior year as an extracurricular credit from a career-based school. This changed my whole mindset around on teaching. I loved making the lesson plans, morning rug time, art center, reading stories, and even P.E. time with them. It opened my eyes to something bigger than myself and made me realize this was the path I was meant to be on as my career in order to continue sharing those fun moments and making impacts on the future generations.

What is a cause you’re passionate about?
A cause I have realized I am passionate about as I have gone through my pre-program classes and the classes I have been in so far in the program is equity in the school systems. My eyes were opened in one of my freshman year education classes on how not all schools have the same funding where they can all be equal and provide all the same things in order for every student to be successful. This was a concern to me, because as someone who grew up having everything I needed to be successful in my classroom, I didn’t understand why every school did not have that opportunity when every student deserves that. So it has pushed me to be more cautious and aware during field experience and even just hearing about how some of my friends in different area schools are handling equity, in order to take with me in my future classroom so I can then provide as many tools as possible to be sure each of my students has the same opportunity as another student in the world.  

What is your favorite series to binge watch? Why?
My favorite series to binge watch is The Sinner. It is a mind-picking show and more on the psychological side but very interesting and gets your mind thinking about so many things, even the characters. This is one of my favorite things to binge watch because I do it with my roommate! Me and my current roommate have been roomies since our freshman year and watching TV shows or movies together is just one of the many things we try and do together in order to still bond during our busy schedules and just have a good time together!

Posted September 24, 2021