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I worked at a summer camp in Cincinnati, called Stepping Stones that works with kids with
special needs. And I had no experience, I just really wanted a job that paid money.
And I had worked with kids before so I thought it’d be fun. They sort of just throw you
in and give you a ten day orientation all about people with special needs, and you think,
ahh, half of this stuff can’t be true. And then you get in, and you go, whoa, this is
definitely true. And I loved it. It sort of – I like to think of it as my immersion
program into it because I didn’t have any preparation, but I ended up really liking
it.
What are your interests outside of academics?
I’m a huge nerd, so I read all the time.
I’d say I had an “Aha” moment when I realized that I wanted to – So, for special
ed, I decided that I wanted to work in the inclusive classroom instead of working in
my own classroom. So, you sort of have that option. And I decided that it would be better
to work in an inclusive classroom.
I transferred from a school near Seattle, called University of Puget Sound in Tacoma,
Washington, like the truck. And it was very fun, but they didn’t have a special education
major, so I was like, oh, I’ll transfer.
What made you choose Miami when you were looking at schools to transfer to?
Oh, so I applied to about four schools and I wanted to be closer to home, because I’d
already, with boarding school and with the other college so far away from Cincinnati,
I’d already done it twice and it’s a lot of boxes. I was just ready for something much
easier, so I chose schools all nearby, but Miami had a really good program. I never visited,
so on my first day, my dad drove me up, and we both looked at each other and went, wow,
this school is really pretty! Good choice.
Has the program kind of lived up to your expectations then?
Yeah, yeah. It’s a great program, they do a lot of field, so that’s nice. You get
to actually be out.
What’s your biggest challenge right now?
My biggest challenge. I don’t know. Let me think. I guess my biggest challenge today
is I have three midterms in a row, so exciting. I decided to call it D-Day, because I used
to be a history major, so I refer everything back to historical moments.
What are you planning to do after you graduate?
In the summers I work at an after school and summer program called Baltimore Urban Gardening.
And it’s inner city kids and we garden and do a bunch of other activities. And it’s
within – it’s through a school and through a foundation that my sister works for and
so hopefully, I’ll go work for them, as a special educator at one of their schools.
I really love their foundation, it’s called Living Classrooms. And I love their foundation.
They do so many amazing things within the inner city, so I’d really like to work there.
But if not, I’d really like to work in an urban school as a special educator.
Alright, thank you very much.
No problem.