My name is Cassandra Smith, and I’m going to be graduating from Texas A&M International University tomorrow. I am earning a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a major in education and an emphasis on early learning.
Education is something that nobody can take away from you. When you have knowledge, you have the key to success, and it’s abundant. This is something I really want to pass on to others. I want to teach students who may not have a lot of opportunities to access education. I want them to know that with education, they can achieve whatever they put their minds to. They need to believe in themselves and have access to education, and sometimes they just need one person to believe in them.
My involvement with TAFE felt like being part of a big family. Most of the members were in the education field, so talking with them made me feel like I found my people. We shared the same ideas and thoughts about where we would love to work, the professors we admired, and our pathways into the classroom. We helped each other reach our goals because, in the end, we all want to be educators and teach the next generation of scholars. We discussed our plans, like subbing first, getting certification exams done, sharing study materials, and recommending classes and professors to one another.
I am very invested in research because I’ve had amazing faculty and professors here at Texas A&M International University who have guided me. I want to study methods and strategies that are effective in engaging students and helping them achieve higher scores on standardized tests. I’m fascinated with finding new information that can open doors of knowledge and be used in the classroom, potentially leading to new methods or equations that help students. This is something I am very passionate about.
Obviously, there have been setbacks. For anyone who works hard, nobody wants to feel rejection or experience little failures now and then. It’s hard to set your mind in the right place and say, “Okay, this wasn’t for me, but everything happens for a reason.” That mindset helps me continue pursuing what I want to become and achieve my goals. This determination is a challenge for everyone, but I am committed to getting through it.
I’m excited to meet my future students, to set up my classroom, and to interact with the parents. I’m also looking forward to meeting my team and hopefully having mentor teachers who will guide me along the way. Additionally, I am excited about graduate school. I was recently accepted to Texas A&M University, and I plan to start in January.