Traci Conrad, who graduated from AQ with her degree in early childhood education in 2022, has just finished her Accelerated Masters in Education and shared her story.
Originally from the East side of the state, over towards Saginaw, Traci developed her love of teaching through her work as a reading interventionist and then as a substitute teacher. Today, after years of learning and growth, she has her own classroom and plans to stay there as long as possible.
Early Career as a Reading Interventionist
After moving to Grand Rapids in 2016 with her associate's degree in childhood development, Traci began working as a substitute teacher. She enjoyed the work but realized that subbing doesn’t pay enough to help support a family. So, she found a job at Head Start; and when they offered to help her with some classes, she jumped at the opportunity to advance her career.
“I thought, sure, why not? I slowly started picking away at my classes in 2017 at Aquinas. Then, that led me to other positions. I became a reading interventionist,” Traci shared.
She explained that reading interventionists “Work with a smaller group, usually three or four students at a time. Maybe I’d only work for 20 minutes with 3 or 4 students, and then the next group would come through and get more time with the teacher to learn reading skills. That made me see the love for each student, and – knowing that they could do well if someone just took the time to care for them and hear their side of the story – I decided I wanted to be that for a whole class of students.”
“I started thinking, that if I had my bachelor's degree and my teaching certificate, then I could go a little further,” Traci stated.
Finishing Her Degree and Keeping the Momentum
Traci explained that her employer was very flexible, which allowed her to work and go to school at the same time. When the pandemic hit and Aquinas went fully remote, she knocked out the majority of her classes and finished her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.
“After I finished my bachelor’s degree, I thought okay, let’s keep going,” she explained. “I got my teaching certificate through the AME program, and that definitely set me up for success. I passed the State of Michigan certification exam right away, on the first try. I just felt that every class I had taken at Aquinas led me to success for that. It was all spelled out for me, so I was ready for it.”
After earning her undergraduate degree and obtaining her teaching certificate, she got hired in Belding, where she currently teaches kindergarten. “I love every minute of it,” says Traci, “The atmosphere is wonderful.”
Obtaining Her Master’s Degree and Reflecting on Her AQ Journey
Traci has just finished her Accelerated Master’s in Education degree. She’s looking forward to a much-needed break from her education, where she can focus on teaching her students and applying her new knowledge.
She explains, “Now that I’ve completed my master's and thesis, it gives me a deeper look into the way my students are learning and the way I’m teaching. I can apply a new strategy or even change a strategy I might be using a little bit more to help the students. My thesis was on growth mindset for students, for kindergartners. I found that the classroom environment has a huge impact on the children, and if it’s a positive environment, the children just seem to flourish and grow.”
Reflecting on her AQ experience, Traci expressed that her degrees have allowed her to keep doing what she loves and given her flexibility if she ever needed to find a teaching position elsewhere.
She states, “As an older student, I felt like a lot of the professors were right there with me the whole way. They encouraged me, telling me their stories. And their stories were pretty close to mine, so I felt like this was doable. The greatest benefit of going to AQ was the doors my degrees have opened for me.”