Yes, my name is Joclyn Alandez. I graduated from Harmony Science Academy and I am working towards my 7-12 certification here as a junior at Texas A&M International University.
I’ve had a lot of good teachers who have taught me valuable lessons, sometimes not in the best ways possible, but most of my teachers have been great. Sadly, in my high school, there wasn’t a TAFE chapter. When I heard that other high schools had that option, I was excited and hoped there would be a chapter at my university. Thankfully, there was, and it had just been created.
TAFE has given me experience with kids, taught me leadership skills, and helped me secure a student teacher position at my middle school. This experience has really helped me grow and solidified that teaching is my passion and what I want to do.
Initially, I didn’t know much about the chapter, so I was always asking the officers what we do and how we do things. Experiencing the College of Education, the classes, the workload, and balancing that with personal life and a job has been a learning curve.
What I’m most excited about right now is the possibility of winning the state competition and maybe even Nationals. For my personal teaching career, I aspire to have my own classroom, graduate as soon as I can, and potentially move into administration within the educational field. I want to make it easier for new teachers and provide better educational resources for our kiddos.