Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Current Program: Master of Arts in Teaching, English 

Undergrad Institution: University of Minnesota

Undergraduate Degree: Global Studies and English

What’s your favorite part of the MAT program?

I really love the cohort model of the program! I got to know Laura Snyder, the leader of English education right away when I got to interview with her. I also enjoy how small our cohort is, just five of us including Laura Snyder, and it is one of the reasons I chose to come to Brown. I’ve had the best conversations with my small group, and I’ve gotten to know everyone even in the online setting. 

What has been your favorite MAT memory so far?

My favorite memory was actually from our very first week on a Friday. We were together as a whole MAT group and we were getting in smaller groups according to where we lean as teaching personalities; North (Action), South (Caring), East (Planner), and West (Creative). It was so fun to see what everyone thought of themselves, and when we got into our teams, we drew our own mascots. I really loved most of the team building stuff in our MAT group.

Were there any advantages to learning online because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

On the brighter side of all of this, I feel like we are insanely prepared to be online teachers, way more than any other generation of educators. We have developed our flexibility a lot, which is really important in teaching, especially during these times. Although, I miss being able to do community building in person, and reading people’s faces is so hard to do with masks on!

What are you looking forward to in your student teaching?

I am looking forward to learning how I can be able to support students outside of the classroom, like at football and soccer games, any sort of sporting event or extra curricular. I’d love to see how kids are outside of the classroom and academia.

What sort of things do you like doing for fun?

Outside of class, I enjoy running! I also practice long distance running so that I can afford to go out to eat all the time! I like to find new places to eat and then be able to make recommendations to my friends. 

Do you have any secret talents?

Oh, I have multiple, secret talents, and they’re all useless. Remember in elementary school when we would compete to see who could stack cups the fastest? I am crazy good at it. I also used to be on the jump rope team at school, so I’m super good at that too.

— interview by Hannah Eckhardt MAT’21