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My name is Zachary Schuster. I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and my birthday is February 25th. I am recently engaged to my amazing fiance, who is a third-grade teacher in Stafford County. I, too, am an aspiring elementary teacher. I am far from shy in a room full of strangers. In my life, I have a lot of work experience in many areas such as carpentry, electrical, HVAC, sandwich shop, and coffee shop, and currently, I am a boat mechanic/ detailer. I enjoy going cooking, hiking and traveling.

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Being a non-traditional student, I work when I am not in classes. When I do get the chance, I spend most of my free time doing just about anything I can outdoors with my fiance. We enjoy grilling out, traveling somewhere new to go hiking or visiting with family. We recently took a trip to Bush Gardens, and I realized how much I had forgotten about my love for roller coasters. Although it isn't away from school, it is another school than Mary Wash this summer semester; I started taking American Sign Language courses at NOVA and love it. I find it scary, challenging, and fun all simultaneously.

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I come from a military family. Both of my parents served in the U.S. Coast Guard, my mom did 26 years and my dad did 41. My father currently is a History professor, he is where I get my good sense of humor. My mother works at a small southern boutique and is probably the sweetest person you could ever meet. I have an older brother who can build or fix just about anything and an older sister who is a preschool teacher.
I live in Virginia therefore I live closer to my fiances family, in Maryland and New Jersey, than I do my blood relatives in Memphis. Therefore, I spend most vacations and trips traveling and hiking with her family. They have made me feel more at home being so far from my parents, siblings, and other relatives that live in the south.

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My plan after graduation is to use my degree to help me get a job teaching. I hope to continue my education as I feel we can always learn more. A goal of mine is to help give younger students the opportunity to learn from a male teacher earlier in life since I feel I could have benefited from this myself. I feel I was often misunderstood and could have benefited from a male teacher's influence which is my intention in pursuing a degree in Elementary Education.

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Since starting at the University of Mary Washington, I have learned a lot. I am an aspiring elementary teacher. I was encouraged to become a teacher by my dad and fiance one Christmas. I was in college and knew I wanted to help make a difference in kids' lives. While we sat around the table playing a family game, Qwirkle, I realized I didn't have any male teachers growing up until I was in high school. I mentioned it to my family and received nothing but encouragement. I was then determined to pursue my education at the University of Mary Washington, where I was later accepted and have loved everything about the decision I had made. I work most of my free time, so I am not as involved as I might have been if I was younger. For this semester, I look forward to building upon the skills and knowledge I have gained from the College of Education program in the previous semesters.