The End of an Advent{HERR}...

Somehow, somewhere we ended up here. On the last day, of my last semester of college. Well almost, here I am on the last day of my student teaching internship. I'm sitting here typing while my students are decorating the room with balloons to celebrate my departure, diligently working on tying blankets for an FFA community service project and in anxious anticipation for the wings that are arriving for lunch.

Here's the thing, I'm counting myself really blessed. Really blessed because I had the opportunity to serve these students for the last 60 some days. Really blessed because I have had the privilege to work alongside of two fantastic mentors in a community that is supportive of the awesome things that are happening here.

This moment is quite bittersweet actually. I am feeling relieved because I made it. I made it through this capstone semester, the most challenging, stretching semester of them all. I am feeling nervous because of big life changes lie ahead - graduation, weddings, job searches. I am sad because this chapter is over, my days with these kids have come to an end.

This student teaching internship has taught me an immense amount of things in 15 short weeks. Things like...

• Every student deserves a champion. Every single one, regardless of their background, regardless of their ability level. And I want to and need to be that for them.
• The diversity of this job is crazy. But it's crazy good. I love that I won't always know it all. I love that challenge. 
• School politics. They're no fun. But regardless of how frustrating that can be, you can't let it get you down. Don't let it deter your focus from your main priority - students. 
• Technology integration is important and is changing the way we can deliver content. Sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes students don't want to utilize it, sometimes we forget that students aren't actually technology natives. 
• Purposefulness is pivotal. It's the why we're doing what we're doing; the where we're going, where we've been conversations that help establish rapport and aid in student success and motivation
• The experiential learning that uniquely happens in the agriculture education classroom is so powerful. I surveyed my students as I wrapped classes with them and not surprisingly, with astounding popularity, students crave and enjoy hands-on learning. 
• Clarity of instruction will be a never ending area of improvement. Moving forward into my own program, I want to continually strive to seek strategies to better myself in that area of effective teaching

Obviously I've learned much more then all of that. This has been the most stretching, growing, challenging, amazing semester. Quite possibly the most important thing I've learned this semester is that I chose the right profession. There were plenty of days in this four year journey where I questioned if it was worth it, questioned if I really had what it takes to serve students as their agriculture educator. But this semester solidified it. Somedays I left Midd-West exhausted and overwhelmed, but most days I left smiling because I love what I do.

Simply put, it hardly seems real that graduation is only few days. It hardly seems real that this student teaching internship has come to a close. 

Simply put, I count myself so privileged to have the opportunity to watch these students grow and succeed. I count myself privileged to earn a Penn State education, to serve as temporary member of of the Midd-West Agriculture and Engineering Department, to be joining a profession with a nationwide network of passionate agriculture educators.

Until the Next Advent{HERR}, K. Janae