Liberal Arts Major(s): Psychology
Other Major: Rehabilitation and Human Services
Hometown: Zhejiang, China
Experience Time: Spring 2020

Give us a brief summary of your experience?

I am working as a student teacher in a classroom with 20 preschool children and three other teachers. Before the health crisis situation happened, I worked face-to-face with those children eight hours a day. I helped with taking care, creating activities and lesson plans, and communicating with families. After we started to work remotely, I have been working on editing the website for the classroom, recording lessons and activities for the children to watch, and doing some resource collecting for the teachers and families. 

How did this experience impact you academically?

I gained a lot of skills and strategies that I learned in courses, but didn't have the opportunity to practice before. This strengthened my knowledge and understanding about what I have learned academically. For example, I took a child psychopathology course last semester which talked a lot about the development of children. Instead of learning and understanding those development features through the textbook and lectures alone, I understood and applied them during this internship experience as well.

This experience confirmed my passion for and career goal of working with and helping children.

How will this experience impact your career goals?

I am going to a graduate program for Prevention Science and Practice which will involve a lot of time working with young children and other educators in school settings. This experience confirmed my passion for and career goal of working with and helping children. In addition, it helped me to build skills that I will definitely need in the future, such as communication and teamwork skills. It also provided the experience of working with children and working in a school setting.

How has the College of the Liberal Arts helped you to find and/or succeed in this experience (e.g., adviser, faculty, staff, enrichment funds, etc.)?

I really appreciate the help from the College of the Liberal Arts. First of all, I got a lot of useful information through the emails that come from the college. In addition, my adviser helped me a lot with organizing my courses and providing advice when I was having a hard time. I also attended a lot of events that were hosted by the College of the Liberal Arts which were very informative. The enrichment funds supported me financially during my internship as well.