My College Journey by Kenzi Sims

Kicking off

kenznicole27 — 2025-08-19 02:20:47 UTC

I've known since high school that I wanted to become a teacher. It started in Algebra 2 when I was helping my peers out with a topic they didn't understand. It was so rewarding to watch the switch flip in their mind once they understood what I was teaching them. Another rewarding time was when I volunteered to help special needs children play soccer, and then helped start up Shooting for Success (basketball for kids with special needs) in my hometown. Knowing that my peers were getting better at a certain topic in Algebra because of the help I gave them was one of the best feelings. And then watching these kids who usually don't get to partake in these types of activities have an immense amount of joy while on the field or court just melted my heart.

College Life

kenznicole27 — 2025-08-19 02:43:03 UTC

My college life looks a little different than some. I started going to college at ATU and finished my freshman year in nursing (obviously, that is not my major anymore). At the end of the spring semester, I found out that I was pregnant with my beautiful son Cooper. Me and his dad were high school sweethearts and decided to just get married since we were going to anyway. My husband decided he wanted to get his masters in accounting here at the UofA, so I followed him. I switched majors to really pursue my passion and am not regretting it one bit!

Excitement for the Future

kenznicole27 — 2025-08-19 02:59:43 UTC

After graduating from the UofA in 2028, I plan to find a teaching job as soon as possible. I want to be a teacher that students remember. Not because I was fun and let the students do whatever they wanted, but because I was someone they could talk to and someone who challenged them to grow as a learner and as a person. I hope to work for quite a few years as a teacher and go back and get my master's to open up more opportunities and hopefully become a principal or an admin. I feel like having those years of teaching under my belt would give me an open mind when making decisions in those two career avenues.