My name is Mason Flicker and I am a first year student at Heidelberg University. I entered my freshman year with a little over 40 college credits and I am considered academically a sophomore. The opportunity to take college classes in high school is helping as I have completed the required courses and have jumped right into my education major. Currently, I am part of the football team at Heidelberg University, The Student Athlete Council, and Leadership program. The past month I have declared my major in elementary education with a dual licensure in special education. The experiences in education that I have had have all been positive and during my senior year I was able to be part of a student mentor program at our elementary. The idea of the program is to offer a young student who may be struggling emotionally, academically, and possbily with behavior. I was lucky enough to meet a young man who was in second grade and we spent an hour each Friday working together. That little bit of time led me to teaching as a career. I love seeing students overcome their obstacles and the success that comes along with that. During this time I was also working with several special education students. The work that I observed was so rewarding and I thought as a male figure I could offer not only success academically, but offer an even bigger reward as someone that a student could look to for guidance. The current curriculum at Heidelberg allows me to already spend time in an elementary classroom. I am working with reading and math students for two hours a week and have enjoyed it so far. The end goal for me is to obtain my degree and then find a position in a district where I can then move forward and obtain an administrative license or even possibly look at a Behavior Specialist. I look forward to being a positive role model in and out of the classroom. Education for me will not stop with a Bachelor's Degree I believe there is always an opportunity to further enhance and I am excited to see where I land. Coaching has also been a desire of mine and I have been able to add that on as a minor to my degrees. Working with youth in a team sport can be beneficial as far as providing leadership, accountability, and teamwork. My experiences throughout the years have greatly enhanced who I am as a person. Winning is great, but what I have gained through team sports far exceeds that. Adveristy is always there and I have seen my fair share, however with positive adults I was able to think past my own desires and do what was best for the team. Character building is another great aspect and I hope to give back to young people what I gained from the many positive educators in my life. Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you. Mason Flicker Heidelberg University

My name is Mason Flicker and I will be a freshman at Heidelberg University this month. I will be pusuing a degree in education focusing on intervention. As a High School male I will say my eyes were opened about two years ago to mental health not only with my peers, but my own self. A teenager today has so many things coming at them life becomes so overwhelming and I am grateful to have amazing parents and support around me , but I needed more. As an athlete in High School and witnessing some blatant cruel adults I went to my parents and asked for help. Males do not normally do this it is looked at as a weakness. My family does not view it at all like that and they were able to secure a therapist that I met with weekly during my senior year and continue to do so now. I want to change the way people think about mental health and especially for males. During my football season last year I was not ashamed to share my journey and as I enter college and will be playing football I will continue to do so. The amount of tools and resources I learned thought his process have been life changing. I was selected to be on a leadership group as a college freshman and I chose the area of mental health to hopefully share my story as well as encourage my peers that there is nothing wrong with reaching out. The changes in my attitude and self confidence were noticeable across the board. I was a better student achieving two semesters of a 4.0 gpa and also being a better teammate. The other area was letting myself just be me not worrying about what others thought or even comparing myself to them. I hope as a future educator I can be that resource for someone and with aspirations of being a coach I would like to incorporate that into a team that I might be responsible for. High School and being a teenager is so different from what our parents faced and with my knowledge and hopefully working on a masters possibly in counseling we can open more avenues for students and families to reach out. Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you. Mason Flicker Bellevue High School Class of 2025 Graduate Heidelberg University Freshman

My name is Mason Flicker and I will be an incoming freshman at Heidelberg University this fall. The university is located in Tiffin, Ohio. I will also be a member of the football team. The plan is to earn a bachelor degree in Early Inclusive Childhood Education. Over the past year I have had an opportunity to job shadow in several schools and really enjoyed my time in the elementary. I also was a peer mentor to a second grader this year. We met every Friday and he opened my eyes to how much some children are struggling outside of the classroom. The time spent with him we just focused on the relationship and by building that I was able to help him complete his work on time as well as work on his behavior. Not all days were easy as a matter of fact 60% of it was a challenge, I learned ways to guide him and help him be the best version of himself. Spending time with this student as well as an Intervention Specialist I was really drawn into that area of eductation. Challenges will be there with every student, however watching them complete goals was very rewarding. I myself can be an excellent student, however during and after COVID I became very compacent. As a High School Freshman by overall gpa was a 2.7 and that was not who I was. I worked very hard the next three years and graduated with a 3.314 gpa and yes I have regrets it could of been so much higher, however I worked very hard and even earned most improved Senior High student. The experience that I can bring from my own struggle and achievements will be beneficial in the classroom. Working with students and understanding their individual needs as well as there backgrounds will help me provide them with a safe educational environment. During my high school years I was an athlete participating in Football, Basketball, and Track. All of these events allowed me to work as part of a team, use my leadership skills to help others, and challenge myself to always work hard. I also invovled myself in the Chimes group that our high school has. Not only is it a class but a group that performed at various area nursing homes as well as community shows. The group is a heavily male populated group which I found interesting maybe because we don't in general like to sing and like loud noise. During high school I also completed 47 credit hours of college classes that will help reduce my total time to complete my bachelors degree. I hope to use my fourth year to work on an autism or behavior certificate. As a member of the football team in college I will be met with challenges with time managment as well as performing to my best ability. The last year I started working with a therapist to manage some of my insecurity and anxiety I will be continuning that in college as I feel this will give me the best possible outcime. Heidelberg has numerious opportunities available other that sports as well I will be part of the leadership program and looking into volunteering as a tutor. Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you.