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Educator Portfolio
My Philosophy of Education
"Dare to be wrong" -
Mr. Walter Flynn, English teacher
Frontier Regional School, South Deerfield, MA
I have always had the urge to help people in need, whether my family, neighbors, friends or strangers. It could be a task like landscaping with my grandfather, tutoring math to peers in high school, or giving friends and teammates a ride home after athletics. This was all part of my growth during my teenage years where I developed compassion, courage, empathy and leadership skills. I applied these qualities to my five years at Quinnipiac University, where I earned my bachelor’s degree and first master’s degree in journalism. I was also a five-year member of the Pep Band, serving as vice president for one year, and a four-year member of Alpha Phi Omega (APO), a co-educational service fraternity on campus. APO broadened my passion on community service and volunteerism, and have since strengthened my qualities demonstrated throughout high school. Its cardinal principles of leadership, friendship and service are ingrained in my mind and have shaped me into the individual I am today.
Quinnipiac University
Nu Alpha chapter
Big Event 2014
New Haven, CT
Quinnipiac University
Nu Alpha chapter
Girl Scout Cookie distribution
March 2013
This passion for helping others was developed over time and passed down from family members, in my opinion. My parents, grandparents, sister and cousins have all done community service or served in their towns one way or another. One could say that it is in our blood, but I think of it as we were all taught compassion, courage, empathy and leadership from a young age. Aside from helping peers in the classroom and in athletics, one of the first experiences doing actual community service was placing flags in cemeteries for Memorial Day. My high school needed volunteers – as they do every year – to perform this quick, but important, task, so I volunteered my time. It was a warm feeling to know my classmates and I were doing good for our small, tight-knit community.
A reason for pursuing opportunities in the community was the result of a quote my middle school English teacher wrote on the white board the first day class. “Dare to be wrong.” What could that mean? Mr. Flynn, the tall and slender man, stood at the front of the room waiting for a response from someone. I can remember this day very clearly because I was extremely nervous in a new environment. I heard some chuckles from the back of the room from a few students I did not know, but other than that, no response. Finally Mr. Flynn gave in, saying “it means to take chances…all the time!” In addition to this, he explained that it is important to try something new, even if it makes you uncomfortable. This stuck with me throughout middle school and high school, through athletics and band, and when traveling to the Netherlands on a 10-day student exchange program (as well as a semester abroad in London in college). All of these experiences stuck with me until graduation and entering college where I would start a new adventure.
So once I arrived at Quinnipiac, I knew I was joining a vibrant community with opportunities everywhere. The Pep Band was the first club I joined because of my passion for music and I stuck with it until I graduated with my first master’s degree. I joined APO at the beginning of my sophomore year and everything changed for me. During my four years in the organization, I accumulated more than 1,000 hours of community service, traveled to dozens of sites around the local community and state, and formed relationships with my fellow brothers and members of the community. I gained a sense of purpose serving others and using compassion, courage, empathy and leadership to
My involvement in APO has the most influence in my growth with compassion, empathy and leadership. By being compassionate and sympathetic to people in need, I have a great desire to help others in any demographic. Empathy is similar because I become aware of people’s emotions and find it necessary to connect with them on a personal level, bringing attention to my own experiences. With my experience as a captain in high school athletics and holding executive board positions in student activities, it is my goal to maintain an image as a confident leader in a variety of
Quinnipiac University
Nu Alpha chapter
Big Event 2015
connect with others. I have since escalated my involvement with APO, serving as an advisor and liaison for the chapter at Northeastern University (and overseeing its chartering process through December 2018), and now as a liaison at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I attend chapter meetings and facilitate planning sessions and risk management exercises.
areas. Combine these with APO’s cardinal principles and I become an individual who desires to create opportunities for everyone and promote diverse and inclusive environments.
As a professional in higher education admissions, I take pride in connecting with applicants through their essays and counseling them through the application process. Although I am only an applications reader for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have the opportunity to catch a quick glimpse of a student’s interests and stories they are telling. It is my short-term goal to climb in admissions to a counselor position, where I can connect with students on a more personal level and help guide them to find interests in academics and on campus. I also have a strong understanding that students come from very different high school, home and community environments. Not everyone has the same academic resources in their high school or enough money to even attend college. It is my goal, no matter where I am working in admissions, to connect with students of any demographic and coming from any geographic region. Education should be a universal right for everyone, which is something I have often thought about in my profession and in courses through Northeastern’s master of education in higher education administration program. For this, if I had a magic wand to change the landscape of higher education, I would have resources and education accessible to everyone around the world. It is this level of compassion, courage, empathy and leadership that stems from my time in high school and college that will continue to grow during my career in higher education admissions.
Northeastern University
Alpha Theta Eta chapter
Chartering Ceremony
December 2018
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