How I Hung Mine With Cheerleading

For as long as I can remember I have dreamt of becoming a teacher.

As a child I would play teacher with my friends and sister. As I grew older, my career plans changed from teacher to baker, physician’s assistant, cheerleading coach, nurse, right back to teacher. As someone who loves biology and the sciences, I wondered if I could connect that love to a future in education. Unsure of how to make that connection I contacted Dominique Battle-Lawson, an advisor with UCONN’s Neag School of Education.

I walked into Mrs. Battle-Lawson’s office not knowing anything about pursuing education from a biology major. I thought it was going to be complicated and time consuming. Mrs. Battle-Lawson introduced me to the TCPCG program, so I did tons of research. TCPCG stands for Teacher’s Certificate Program for College Graduates. I grew really fond of the idea of the TCPCG program and how it could move me towards becoming a teacher. I have also spoken with Monica Maloney-Gat about applying to the program at UCONN’s Hartford Campus. Although there were only 2 weeks left to apply, Mrs. Maloney-Gat was extremely helpful about making sure my requirements were ready to go for the application.

The actions of my own teachers in high school helped further my desire to become a teacher. They were concerned and kind, helping me deal with not only academics, but also some of the complexities of being a teenager. Ms. Dolley, my high school physics teacher, was one of my favorite teachers; she made a lasting impression on me.

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Not only did we get along well, I found that I loved physics, something I did not think I would ever hear myself say. As a young woman in the field of physics I found her incredibly inspiring. I hope one day to have as great an impact on my students as Ms. Dolley had on me.

While my own positive teacher interactions have shaped my desire to go in to education, I also love interacting with children. A lifelong cheerleader, I began at the young age of 4, I have found ways to connect this passion with my love for children. In high school I was a youth cheerleading coach for 4 years working with children ages 4 through 10. Although I taught proper cheerleading technique and skills, I also worked to help kids build self-esteem and have fun. I am currently serving my second year as a member of the UCONN Cheerleading Leadership Team and I love being able to lead my team and help anyone that needs help. I also work with the Future Huskies, a program which includes both boys and girls who want to be football players, basketball players, dancers, or cheerleaders. We hold a Future Huskies Clinic every year for little cheerleaders where we make a routine that they will perform at Gampel Pavilion in front of the whole basketball crowd. I really enjoy this because the kids are so cute. They enjoy spending time with the cheerleaders and they look up to us. This means that not only do we try to have fun with the kids, but we try to be good role models as well.

I also enjoy the time I spend with the children at HuskyThon. I have been participating in, and this year also served as the UCONN Cheerleading team community outreach officer assisting with HuskyThon. HuskyThon is a dance-a-thon for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. This year, my senior year, will be the first time I am running the UCONN Cheerleading Teams’ HuskyThon page and I am very excited to take on this responsibility. We raise money for an 18-hour dance-a-thon where there is music, games, and other activities for not only the students, but the children. Last year we were able to raise over one million dollars which is breathtaking, and I am proud to have contributed to that. The UCONN Cheer Team always represents a little girl named Kiley who is an absolute sweetheart. She is an honorary member of the UCONN Cheerleading Team.

Aside from working with children, another factor in my decision to apply to UCONN’s Neag School of Education’s TCPCG Program is the creativity involved with the profession and the ability to impact future generations. Being a creative person, I have always made up fun games to play with my friends or found new ways to study to benefit me in my education. I would be able to be creative in lesson planning, homework, projects, and also examinations. Using that creativity, I hope to influence my students to love and appreciate the importance of science. Maybe some of them will even become science majors in college! I find the idea of having such an impact on society through teaching so satisfying and honoring. I also love that no two days are the same in the teaching profession. You are never 100% sure what you will be walking into that day and I find that exhilarating.

I really love to help people and that’s why I thought about a medical career and helping patients at one point. I now understand that I don’t want to do so much of help patients but help people by teaching them knowledge that will better them in life. I love teaching people new things and helping them understand things that I have knowledge about. I love a career that will keep me on my toes and keep me thinking. I am quite restless and so I feel like teaching will always keep my mind busy even though I am not being physically active. I never want to stop learning and with teaching, I am learning new things every single day. In the future, I hope to be a knowledgeable and approachable teacher like my high school teacher, Ms. Dolley. I would be so honored to be a teacher in the future and be a participant in the UCONN’s Neag School of Education’s TCPCG Program at UCONN Hartford.