Life’s occurrences kept Amber Ditmer from earning her teaching degree from Indiana University East.
Six children. A chronic illness. A family job loss. The death of a dear friend.
“There were a whole bunch of things. I just tried to keep everything afloat,” said the resident of New Paris, Ohio. “But, I probably should try to finish.”
She did earn an associates degree from Ivy Tech Community College and then attended IU East for a summer.
Today, her illness – ulcerative colitis – keeps her close to home, where she still has children and regularly babysits her grandson, Greyson. She loves dabbling in drawing and painting.
She also loves that her 18-year-old daughter plans to finish what she started at IU East. Miya Ditmer will begin classwork in August toward a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.
“This is really what I want to do,” she said. “I am so excited to get in and teach. I hope these four years fly by.”
She eventually hopes to land a job as a kindergarten or second-grade teacher at an elementary school in Ohio.
Miya enjoyed a recent visit to the IU East campus:
“I actually loved it. Everybody I met was welcoming, excited for me to be there,” she said. “I can’t wait to get into a classroom.”
Miya has other college and employment options. She could attend Miami University of Ohio at a minimal cost because her father, Brian, runs the steam plant there.
She could work full time in cosmetology after earning certification through a program she took at Miami Valley Technology Center near Dayton. Instead, she plans to work part time as a cosmetologist to help pay for her expenses at IU East.
She’s used to balancing many tasks. Miya was an honors graduate, a softball player and a cheerleader for National Trail High School. She earned membership in the National Technical Honor Society.
IU East already has played a full-circle role in her decision to become an elementary teacher.
Her mom took a class a decade ago that was taught by Denise Honaker, who is Coordinator of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education.
Amber remembers gaining great insights in setting up a classroom and setting a positive mood for elementary students. That experience raised hopes for her that Miya would someday choose to become a teacher.
The hope was mutual: Miya remembers thinking then: “I want to be a teacher like my mommy.”
She and her sister, Madde, were allowed to accompany their mom at times in Honaker’s class.
“She let me do hands-on stuff with my daughters,” Amber said.
“Their experience shows the power of making positive impressions – in this case from professor to mother to daughter,” said Jerry Wilde of IU East.
He led a signing ceremony for Miya at National Trail. “This is the kind of story that makes me incredibly proud to be the Dean of the School of Education,” he said via email. “You just never know where the ripples will go.”
Amber says that Miya’s natural talent for childhood education was on display already in elementary school when she connected with a boy in her class that is autistic.
“He loved her and would be good for her. She had a knack for that,” Amber said. “I always hoped she would become a teacher, but I didn’t want to push her.”