Loras and My Future

Loras College has provided me with countless experiences that will travel with me for
many years to come. Post-graduation, I plan to teach English at a high school in the United
States. My experience being a part of the Loras College Cheer Squad, participating in
Democracy and Global Diversity, and engaging in World Literature has taught me numerous
skills that will follow me into my teaching practices.
My experience being a part of the Loras College Cheer Squad has granted me a lot more
experience than initially expected. I had the opportunity to work with hundreds of children,
practice managing classrooms early on in my teaching career, and work out in the community. As
the current cheer captain, I have been asked to host several dance and cheer camps at Loras, the
Multicultural Family Center, and the Dubuque Leisure Services. These institutions have reached
out to me and have been working with me since my sophomore year to organize and instruct
week-long camps, semester-long classes, and even summer-long camps for the youth of
Dubuque. Ive work with children as little as two years old up to fourteen-year-olds. Loras
Cheer program allowed me to get experience early on in the classroom working with students
and managing a classroom. As a future teacher, I am grateful for all of my experience Ive
already had creating lesson plans, instructing, and managing up to twenty small children in a
classroom. I am ahead of the teaching game in terms of hands-on experience with students, and
as a result, feel much more confident entering student teaching next semester with all of this
experience under my belt. As I continue to search for teaching jobs, my work with cheerleading
is a wonderful advertisement for me as I plan to also coach a cheerleading squad in my future
career. Cheerleading has done much more for me than I ever couldve imagined in high school,
and I am grateful beyond words to the Loras College Cheerleading Program. Apart from my
involvement in cheer that has helped me prepare for my future as an English teacher, my

experience I had in taking Democracy and Global Diversity has further aided me in my
preparation for post-college life.
My Democracy and Global Diversity course has taught me how to think on my feet, fake
confidence, and introduced me to effective teaching strategies that I plan to carry out in my
English classroom. In that course, I took on two different roles: Marquis de Lafayette, and a
communist. In the French Revolution simulation, I took on the role of Lafayette, a French
military officer who played a huge role in the French Revolution but also aided the United States
in the American Revolutionary War. In taking on this role, I did not have any other classmate
who was on my team that I could brainstorm with, so I began to become an expert at both
thinking on my feet, and faking confidence, two attributes that are major qualifications as a
teacher. When another student would question me or ask me what Lafayette thought of a certain
proposal or law, I would have to fake a certain confidence and decide on the spot Lafayettes
views and deliver them in a assertive way, so as to maintain my image of power and control. My
role as a communist was also quite individual, so it pushed me to make decisions for myself and
work as an independent. Democracy and Global Diversity also introduced me to the idea of a
simulation as a class activity. It has been proven to be effective time and time again as Loras
students continue to take the course. It pushes students to understand a certain role, view, and
perspective and communicate the perspective to an audience outside the classroom or teacher. As
a future English teacher, I will incorporate simulations in my classroom as it allows for critical,
reflective thought and often pushes students outside of their comfort zones. Not only did
Democracy and Global Diversity demonstrate teaching strategies that I plan to use in the
classroom, but without a doubt, my English courses served as models for teaching that will be
incredibly useful for my future in Education.

My World Literature course in which I studied classics such as Dantes Inferno, Homers
The Odyssey, and much more served as a wonderful example for methods of teaching classics
that I will most definitely teach in my future. I could not have asked for a better model for
teaching Dantes Inferno than my Loras professor. His way of studying this work involved a lot
more self-reflective thinking than I anticipated. He presented the major themes of the famous
work and applied them not only to the text, but to our lives today. My experience with Dantes
Inferno was further intensified when I traveled to Florence, Italy months after studying Dante
and his work where I had to opportunity to visit the Dante museum and walk the same streets as
the great poet. My professor practiced many student-centered classroom techniques that allowed
for further interaction with the text, all of which resulted in my passion for Dantes Inferno. The
way in which my professor taught The Odyssey was just as effective in teaching me strategies for
teaching classic works. I have collected many of my professors handouts and saved my notes
from the class so that I can mimic these exact lectures and discussions in my future classroom.
This World Literature course, along with many other English courses that I took over my four
years at Loras served as wonderful examples of effective teaching.
With these experiences, I hope to become an inspiring and effective teacher just like the
Loras professors that have inspired me. I will use my experiences the Loras Cheer Team,
Democracy and Global Diversity, and World Literature had to offer me and work to recreate
these learning experiences for my future students. I am beyond grateful for my Loras education
and experience and although I will be distressed to leave this institution, I am excited to practice
my skills Ive learned here at a school that welcomes me.