Field experience prepped me to teach at any level
NAME: Breya Christopher
CLASS YEAR: 2023
HOMETOWN: Galena, Illinois
MAJOR: Elementary Education
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT: Track & Field
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR MAJOR: I have loved working with kids from a very young age! I helped out in my local elementary and middle school while I was in high school, and from then on, I knew that teaching would be in my future.
HOW HAS WARTBURG PREPARED YOU FOR THE NEXT STEP: Wartburg has helped prepare me to enter the classroom as a teacher by giving me a handful of local opportunities to be in classrooms. From those, I was able to get that real life experience. I had experiences with all different grade levels for field experience and had the opportunity to student teach with two drastically different grade levels. Having all of these different experiences has prepped me to enter any classroom at any grade level!
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION: After graduation, I will be moving to West Des Moines and getting married at the end of June! I will also be teaching Kindergarten starting in August at Perkins Elementary, which is a part of the Des Moines Public Schools. Go Penguins!
HOW HAS BEING A PART OF THE TRACK & FIELD TEAM IMPACTED YOUR EXPERIENCE AT WARTBURG: Being a part of the Wartburg Track & Field team has allowed me to have a home away from home. Each and every one of my teammates has become family and they all hold a special place in my heart. Being a part of this team has allowed me to have opportunities to travel around the country and compete at a high level. I have met my lifelong friends and my future husband because of this team! All of these memories will last a lifetime, and I will forever be grateful for them.
HOW HAVE YOU EMBODIED THE WARTBURG PILLARS ON CAMPUS: Leadership has been one of the pillars that I had the opportunity to fully embody on campus. My junior year, I had the opportunity to be a part of the Athletic Director Search Committee. That allowed me to be a part of the entire hiring process of the new athletic director for Wartburg, John Cochrane. I also had a chance to be a part of the LEAD team here on campus with fellow female athletes and coaches to discuss leadership with other incredible women. There were also multiple opportunities for me to be in leadership positions within the track and field team.
WHAT IS ONE MEMORY YOUR WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER FROM YOUR YEARS HERE: One memory I will always remember from my four years here is when we got sent home my freshman year because of the pandemic. I was in North Carolina with the track team getting ready to compete in the indoor national championship. We got the news that we would not be able to compete, and we had to spend three more days there. In those three days, I got the chance to get to know my coaches better and teammates that were getting ready to graduate. Despite it being a time of grieving our track season together, I am thankful for those three days to bond with that team.
WHAT IMPACT DO YOU HOPE TO HAVE LEFT ON THE CAMPUS: I hope that I can leave an impact of happiness. You never know what anyone is going through, so the least you could do is make someone smile. A smile at someone can generate positivity. There are not a lot of people on this campus, so it is easy to get to know mostly everyone. I hope that the people I did get to know can continue to radiate positivity to those around them, whether that be in the classroom, in competition, or when they are living their everyday lives.