Q&A

What would you consider your biggest success as a teacher? What achievement are you most proud of?

My biggest success as a teacher is not measured in numbers for me. Yes, the gains I made with my students make me so proud, but what makes me the most proud is how I left my students more confident humans than when they came to me. Each and every day I made sure my students knew they were valued members of society, we spent a lot of time working on confidence and social skills as much as our reading curriculum.

Reading notes that my students wrote me at the end of the year and notes they wrote to themselves, reading how much they had changed is what makes me the most proud. One of the other things I am most proud of is setting up a Saturday tutorial program for my students. We would meet on Saturdays for extra lessons at the local McDonald’s. It was a great time for me to help students who needed a bit more of a push in a less stressful environment.

I’ve heard alumni say that the corps was a catalyst for personal transformation, and that it changed both their beliefs as well as their skillset. Do you agree with that statement? 

I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. I am not the same person I was when I entered the classroom. My students taught me just as much as I taught them. I carry those lessons with me in everything I do. My time in the classroom taught me how to be more efficient, how to see the bigger picture and how to find a way, even when it doesn’t seem like there is one. I credit my “outside the box” thinking in my journalism career to my time in the classroom.

How – if at all – do you use the skills and beliefs you developed while in the corps?

I use my skills from TFA every day. My time in the classroom taught me how to work well under pressure, every day I work under a tight deadline, sometimes I only have seconds to make a decision about something that is going out live on television, making decisions with that kind of pressure is something I learned how to do in the corps. Goal-setting and setting a vision are skills I also use. I am able to identify how I want my show to end up daily before I even begin and it helps me then fill in the middle. Additionally, my students taught me that everyone has a story. That skill has allowed me to look beyond the obvious and find the story that is waiting to be told.

Anything else you believe would be valuable to share?

Even if TFA doesn’t seem like the obvious choice for you, apply anyway. As I learned, there is no one road to get where you are going and sometimes the best experiences happen in the detours. At first glance, it seemed like TFA would derail my plans to be a journalist, but in fact, it only made me a better reporter, producer, and all around person. The skills and experiences I had during my time in the corps will stay with me for the rest of my life.