Education with an Urban Focus
Segment #7 from University of Illinois Chicago
Transcript
Every year students from all over the world choose UIC for so many reasons. Anna, a student from Switzerland is here to tell us why UIC’s astounding program in urban education inspired her to set a course towards the classrooms of Chicago. Anna, you are on.
– Thanks for the introduction, Alex and hi everyone. Even though I come from a long line of teachers, I hadn’t seriously considered education as a path for me. But after transferring to UIC and taking my first course in the Urban Education program, I understood why so many in my family chose this field and it all just fell into place. To me, the Urban Education program at UIC is great for two reasons. One, the urban focus. In UIC’s program, we are specifically preparing to work in underserved areas that need teachers. And two, early hands-on experience in Chicago’s public schools. To prepare us for our careers, we begin field experience as early as our junior year. Twice a week, I work alongside mentor teachers planning lessons for multiple grades. During the final two years of our studies, we refine our skills with hands-on opportunities and lead our own classrooms. These experiences have given me exposure to different grade levels, schools, districts and the diverse communities within them. As an international student myself, I know the importance of a globally connected campus community. And here at UIC, there are students from every background. Engaging with students from all over Chicago and all around the world add so much to my college experience at UIC. I am both excited and nervous for what the future has in store for me. Although there are many challenges in education today, if there’s one thing I’ve learned here is that things won’t change until we do. Thank you all and back to you, Alex.
– Thank you, Anna, the world needs passionate teachers with different global and cultural perspectives, and it’s great to hear that UIC is working to make a difference in the classrooms of Chicago and beyond. That was awesome.