So walking into my first day of college, naturally I was already brainstorming my levels of anxiety over the thought of student teaching…four years from that moment. Anyway, I was an extremely nervous first year college student feeling crushed under the weight of my own thoughts. During that time in my life I was not very good at keeping myself in the present; taking in my surroundings, valuing silence, or just taking whatever came my way in a calm and confident manner. Now though, it is four years later. My mind has slowed down, allowing me to take in more of what is good in my life, rather than hyperventilating over things in the future or things in the present that I cannot change. I have changed from being a freshman with a map of campus firmly in hand to a confident and determined adult.

If you are reading this, I am finished with my four years of my undergrad degree and have grown more into the person I always hoped I would be, and yes…I survived student teaching. It’s still really bizarre to sit with that thought. Student teaching is done. I WAS a student teacher…and now it’s over. All that time spent stressing and getting myself worked up over whether or not I would be able to live up to the expectations I so graciously placed on myself. As I reflect on my college career, I look back and feel like I am watching myself from a different body, with a different mind. The person I have grown into can’t fathom that scared and quiet girl in the very back of her first college class. I spoke to no one and now have life long friends. I always stayed in the background but am now able to conduct lessons in classrooms full of students.

This post is personal this week, but I feel extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had and the people I have met (you know who you are). I have realized now that when I sat alone in that first class, I didn’t fully know myself and I hadn’t met the people who were going to push me to reach my full potential. For the last four years and for the opportunity to be a part of this blog, as well as to become a teacher in the field of my dreams, I would like to dedicate this post to my favorite teachers in Bio, English, Music, and History. I love you guys. We did it!