Coming from a smaller than usual graduating class at Centerville High School, Abby Davis is excited about meeting new people at IU East – despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m hoping that my classmates and I can try to find ways to gather in person,” she says – doing so safely of course. She believes at least two classes will be in person with social distancing and masks. She also plans to try to create other opportunities with her classmates, perhaps meeting for study groups.
“I believe there will be a possibility of meeting outside in areas where we can practice social distancing,” she says. About 75 percent of her course load will be online, some of it will be by Zoom and the rest in person. She was eager to start class August 24 – no matter how it is conducted – to begin her college career to get a degree in elementary education.
Her major was inspired in part by her mother, Alyssa Davis, who teaches first-grade at Rose Hamilton Elementary. Her mother obtained her degree at IU East. Her father also took some classes to become a teacher, though he ended up on a different path. “When you have a parent in education, you get to see both the good and the bad. My mother is part of the reason I chose the field.”
Besides her family, she credits some of her own teachers who mentored her in contributing to her degree choice. She made the decision before her senior year in high school. While in high school, she spent time working in an elementary office and shadowing different teachers. “I quickly fell in love with the idea of teaching. I loved everything from the sound of a bustling classroom to the silly stickers that I got to put on graded papers.”
She also plans to obtain a double minor in Early Childhood Education and Reading Education.
Since being part of the 2020 graduating class at Centerville, unusual in itself because of COVID-19, she’s not letting the many unknowns as she faces college dampen her excitement. “Every day is something new.” She has spent her summer working as a group leader at Girls Inc., working with incoming second and third graders.
She doesn’t know for sure yet about her working and living arrangements, though she definitely intends to work while taking 15 to 18 hours. “I hope to get a job on campus. If not, I have a couple of different opportunities with some childcare providers. I might also apply to get a substitute teaching permit.”
Though perhaps a little discouraged by the impact of a pandemic on her class schedule, she is determined to remain positive and look for opportunities to make new friends. “I guess ‘to be determined’ seems to be the theme of my year thus far,” she says. “But I’m super confident in the administration at IU East. Even if everything is up in the air, they go out of their way to make you feel like they will figure things out.”
IU East was “always on her radar,” though she visited several schools inside and outside of Indiana and fully expected to choose one of them. “I fell in love with IU East and made the decision to attend the fall of 2019.”
At this point, when she graduates IU East, she doesn’t plan to leave the community.
“I would love to teach first or second grade when I graduate. I would also love to eventually end up back at my alma mater, Rose Hamilton Elementary. I’m trying to keep my mind open to all opportunities that come my way, but I definitely want to stay local in my first couple of years of teaching. I just feel like I have a really great system of teachers and educators that have my back in the Wayne County area, so it would be nice to stay close to those people as I navigate my first couple of years of teaching!”
She’s ready to get started. “I’m ready for this new chapter of my life. Go Red Wolves!”