I did not take a direct path to becoming a certified teacher or to earning my undergraduate degree. When I graduated from Hays High School in 1992, I knew I wanted to become an English teacher. However, life handed me other plans. Teaching remained in my heart and mind as I raised my children. Along the way, I was a preschool teacher, school volunteer, piano teacher, teen mom support group founder and leader, volunteer children's ministry director, and Valencia College Horizon Scholars mentor.

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In 2016, I worked as a paraprofessional at a middle school. After helping a student prepare for a math test, she later passed me in a courtyard and joyfully yelled, "I passed my math test because of you!" I responded, "No, you passed your math test because of you!"  This simple exchange reignited my desire to become a teacher. I completed the school year as a para, then enrolled as a full-time undergrad student.

 

I finally graduated in 2019 with my BA in English.  I graduated with my M.Ed. in Secondary Education in May 2024 with my ELA 7-12 Texas teaching certification. I deeply believe in this powerful quote for myself and my students: "It's never too late to be what you might have been" (George Eliot). I have taken a winding path to this destination, but I feel that much more enriched by the journey.