I never thought I would want to become a teacher. Most of my life I had planned on going into law enforcement. My dream was to become a police officer or detective, but that all changed my senior year of high school. My senior year of high school I took Service in Action which was a class where seniors would help out in middle school classrooms. I decided to help out in my favorite teacher's classroom, Mr. Greenwell. He was my 8th grade history teacher and the reason I fell in love with history. He was an amazing teacher that made history fun and interesting. Ever since I was in his 8th grade history class I loved history, but still didn't think about it as a career. When I started working with Mr. Greenwell my senior year he saw the potential I had as a teacher before I even saw it myself. He began giving me lesson plans and having me teach for the day. The first couple of times he let me teach he would sit in the back and catch up on grading. Soon after he was so confident in my abilities that he would leave the classroom and take care of other responsibilities. Mr. Greenwell wanted me to experience what it would be like for me to be teaching in my own classroom. He was extremely impressed and after class he asked me if I had ever thought about becoming a teacher. I told him that I hadn't and he said that I should really think about it because I was a natural. After that conversation everything just seemed to click. I went home and started researching teaching requirements and different degree programs. I started out just working on an associates degree in General Studies, but a year into it I found a college that offered the degree I wanted. I wanted to pursue a Bachelors degree in History that would also license me to be a teacher. It has been over two years since I worked in his classroom, but Mr. Greenwell still keeps up with my education. He always reminds me that he retires in a couple years, the same time I will get my degree. He hopes that I will take his place. While I am honored by this, it is daunting because I know I will have big shoes to fill. Mr. Greenwell has even talked to the school board and the superintendent has reached out to me to let me know that I will always have a job opportunity at Hannibal schools. I will forever be grateful to Mr. Greenwell for his commitment to my career success.

Seeing the silver lining of every situation is so important to me. Even with this pandemic there are silver linings. While people are separated through social distancing this pandemic has seemed to bring communities together. People are more willing to help their neighbors and be there for those in need. Once the pandemic hit my small hometown, Hannibal Missouri, our community and especially our schools rallied together to help students. School was cancelled due to the pandemic and for most children, not going to school meant not having a good meal. I worked on a school bus as an aid and our schools were not willing to let children go hungry, so even though school was out, bus drivers, aids, and teachers created sack lunches every day for four months. My mother, a bus driver, and I would then deliver the meals to kids all over the community. Families were so grateful and seeing the children's smiles as we handed them their sacks became the best part of my day. The pride and determination our town had during this time brought me much hope. It was truly inspiring and I'm so proud to have been apart of it.

I never thought I would want to become a teacher. Most of my life I had planned on going into law enforcement. My dream was to become a police officer or detective, but that all changed my senior year of high school. My senior year of high school I took Service in Action which was a class where seniors would help out in middle school classrooms. I decided to help out in my favorite teacher's classroom, Mr. Greenwell. He was my 8th grade history teacher and the reason I fell in love with history. He was an amazing teacher that made history fun and interesting. Ever since that class I loved history, but didn't think about it as a career. When I started working with Mr. Greenwell he saw the potential I had as a teacher before I even saw it. He began giving me lesson plans and having me teach for the day. He was extremely impressed and after class he asked me if I had ever thought about becoming a teacher. I told him that I hadn't and he said that I should really think about it because I was a natural. After that conversation it just seemed to click. I went home and started researching teaching requirements and different degree programs. A couple years later Mr. Greenwell still keeps up with my education. He reminds me that he retires in a couple years, the same time I will get my degree. He hopes that I will take his place. While I am honored by this, it is daunting because I know I will have big shoes to fill. With my new career goal I knew I had to go to college. I had not looked into colleges seriously before because law enforcement does not require a degree. I thought about getting an associates degree and calling it good, but my new path changed that. My family has always pushed me to go to college because they didn't. They knew that the world had changed and most jobs now require a degree so it was important for me to have one. Regardless of my career goals they have always wanted me to go to college so that I had a degree to fall back on. My parents always made sure I was successful in school so that I could go to college. I had to be successful, because without the scholarships from good grades I would not be able to afford college. My parents did not have any savings for my college tuition, so I knew I was going to have to pay for college on my own. I am grateful for how hard my parents pushed me because I developed perseverance and the desire to succeed that has helped me in college.

My college experience has been very busy. Between working full time, taking care of daily chores, and being an army wife there is a lot of stress and chaos. Part of me wants to quit, but I try to remember that all of the work will be worth it in the end. My playlist to describe my college experience would consist of... *Lost Boy- Ruth B. (Because it is all about running away to Neverland and during college sometimes I just want to escape back to my childhood and not have any adult responsibilities). *The Climb-Miley Cyrus (This song helps me to remember to enjoy the journey of college no matter how tough it gets) *Life is a Highway-Rascal Flatts (College, just like life, has its ups and downs, but we're going to get through it) *The Champion-Carrie Underwood (I know the work I am putting in now will be worth it) *9 to 5- Dolly Parton (College can feel like a full time job sometimes) *Rise Up- Andra Day (As much as I want to quit I keep going and this song really sets that mood to not give up) I would name this playlist "Never Quitting, Always Persevering"