Additional Educational Experiences
Coach
My time at a Title 1 school is a huge part of who I am today, and it changed me in ways that I never would have imagined. I have more cultural awareness, more empathy when I thought that cup was already filled, and I am better equipped to recognize systemic inequalities in the world around me. This experience forced me to look at things with a more critical lens, something that has served me well as I prepare to student teach.
Volunteer
I have been a foster home and volunteer for Carolina Border Collie Rescue since 2015. During that time I have been blessed to work with a long-term foster, Mattie. Because Mattie has an overactive prey drive and is fear-reactive to strangers, she can not safely leave the rescue to be adopted out and will spend the rest of her days in our home. Through this process, I have obtained improved patience and adaptation skills. I have also honed my communication and collaboration skills by working as an adoptee liaison to interview prospective adopters and match them with current border collies in the rescue's other foster homes. It has truly been a rewarding experience.
Cosmetologist, CMA, Small Business Owner... & a Teacher in 2022.
As someone older, this isn't my first experience with higher education. I've been fortunate to be able to try out different careers along the way, changing my mind as I go - a luxury I recognize not all have. I have gone to school and become licensed as both a cosmetologist and a medical assistant, and have spent the last 13 years as a successful small business owner and newborn portrait artist. While all of these experiences shaped who I am today, they also taught me what I didn't want out of life. I don't want the crazy unpredictable hours, and I don't want to be the one-person show who makes all of the decisions anymore. I am also now a senior at Appalachian State in the Reich College of Education, and will be a full-time teacher in August. I'll be able to share firsthand industry knowledge with my students, preparing them to take my place as the new generation of digital artists, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that this will be my final landing spot.