What is your current job?
I am an elementary school teacher at University Child Development School in Seattle, WA.
Why did you choose this profession?
I love being part of a collaborative educational community that encourages students (and teachers!) to take risks and question what they learn. Supporting students as they build connections between themselves, their peers, and the world is both a challenge and the greatest joy. It is so exciting for kids to engage in the process of discovery and figure out what drives them to keep reading, writing, asking, or however they show their thinking process!
What more do you wish to accomplish in your professional career?
I feel happy and challenged right now and could imagine continuing to teach for a long time. I also want to further explore the potential of libraries as community centers so a graduate program that supports that might be an option in the future. I love being part of educational communities so I know I will always be teaching and learning in some way!
Tell us about a decision or change you made that turned out to be a positive career move.
After graduating, I spent a year teaching English through a fellowship in Athens, Greece. Through teaching in a Greek elementary school, I broadened my own view of what school could look like and formed stronger opinions on what was crucial for developing an interest in discovery. It is a necessary experience to be somewhere where you are not always sure how things will go!
How has Haverford influenced your professional career?
I find myself thinking of the Honor Code and the responsibility each member of the Haverford community carries whenever we discuss our learning community at school. Haverford expanded my definition of community to more than just a support system; I try to discuss and hold students to those same expectations of questioning and speaking out to encourage change. When I was investigating schools to teach at, I knew I needed to be at a school that cultivates a similar sort of active responsibility and collaborative community that was important to my Haverford experience.