My path since graduating from Ursinus has not been linear. I worked for a few years in education and mental health nonprofit administration, then ended up with the opportunity to do an alternative certification program when I was living in Dallas, Texas. I have worked as an elementary special education inclusion teacher and as an itinerant early intervention teacher. Currently, I’m back to being a student, working as a research assistant while completing my M.Ed. in Literacy at West Chester University, which will prepare me to become a reading specialist. I’ll also be a teacher at a summer language arts program in summer 2022.

My education at Ursinus taught me to always ask questions and gave me a strong foundation in looking at education from a systemic perspective. Whether it was the influence of CIE or my 400-level education seminars, I still find myself asking how a particular teaching method or philosophy can raise questions like, “What is the purpose of education? How does our view on what literacy is define how we teach reading and writing? Who or what are we trying to shape with our educational system?” Having a liberal arts education has taught me to welcome these questions as part of the reflective practice of being an educator and to see the value in the many different experiences I can bring to my role. Though I did not get certified at Ursinus and the Educational Studies major didn’t yet exist when I was a student, I feel like the support I received from the Education faculty had a huge impact on my life. Having the chance to work on a few research projects at the graduate level has been very rewarding to me, and I know that my success as a writer and researcher today can be credited to the education I received at Ursinus.