I knew that I wanted to teach ever since I was a little girl. At first, my stuffed animals were my students, and then eventually my little sister was. I always enjoyed helping her understand topics that were difficult for her in class, and I often did so by acting out what she needed to learn, giving her mental tricks to memorize concepts, and connecting them to the knowledge she already held concerning parts of the curriculum. I knew part of God's plan for me was to use the skills he had gifted me with to teach, but I didn’t know what level he was leading me to until my mission trips to Africa.

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On two separate occasions, I traveled and performed with my school’s missions team to Africa. Our team wasn't your typical missions team. We used skits, songs, and dances to teach, and our team was comprised of mostly students. We visited numerous schools, villages, and orphanages while in Africa. We traveled to Kenya and Uganda with the mission to teach the children (and the adults) about Jesus, but we later came to the realization that they were also teaching us. It was in Africa that I learned to truly appreciate the education system in America. Here in America, we have an abundance of resources to offer children of all backgrounds so that they may learn freely and have the opportunity to be successful in so many ways. The Lord revealed to me my love for children, and I knew from then on, that my calling was to teach Elementary students.

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