Talk with Miss Yee

Grand Valley State

Undergrad

(August 2019-December 2023)

Freshman Year, Pandemic Year

(2019-2020)

Getting to Grand Valley was not an easy decision. From my junior year (11th grade) in high school I had my sights set on Grand Valley State due to a couple of friends going there and loving it. It wasn’t until my mom mentioned that I could go out of state for college. My cousin Brent had just left Chicago, Illinois, and Loyola University Chicago had just made it very far into March Madness with Sister Jean (Loyola is a Jesuit University, meaning it is a society of Jesus). After touring, applying, getting in, getting a scholarship, applying for a ton of scholarships (26 to be exact), and talking with everyone I could it all came down to decision day. I missed dance that day, which was a huge deal back then, I went through all of the options and talked it out with my parents and I cried…a lot at 11:03 pm on May 1st I put in my deposit for my original first choice Grand Valley.

In retrospect, I am so happy with the decision I made now knowing how the rest of the year was going to turn out. Because I picked a college so late in the game I knew I was going to have a hard time finding a place to live and also good people to live with. Somehow I was at a graduation party for a friend and found my two suitemates and throughout the summer I was also randomly assigned a roommate (who ended up being amazing!)

During my first semester of college, I took two classes in the education field (Teaching Elementary Education Health and Move-Dance-Learn PE Elementary Education) along with three other university requirements. I met so many friends in my living center, in my classes, and in clubs that I joined. I looked into the sorority circuit of things and it just didn’t seem to be my style and felt like too much of a commitment right away. I had a professor mention a club called “Kids in Motion” This club was run through Grand Valley and the concept was that a group of 3-4 college students would go to different after-school or boys/girls clubs and play games with the students. It was a very low commitment, I went with two other girls every Thursday for a couple of weeks and got my dose of working with kids again just before the semester let out!

In my second semester of college, I had a full class load, thoughts of Spring break on my mind, and an apartment lease signed with the girl who lived across the hall from me, nothing could go wrong! Now this is winter semester 2020. The two weeks before the worldwide shutdown were a wild ride for me between all of my family things that were going on. My great grandma the week of February 2nd, 2020 had slipped and fell and broke her elbow and hit her face to the point where she spent the next two weeks in the hospital. My grandma was almost 97 and had not really had her mind for some time before she passed away, Bok Bok (Chinese for great grandmother) passed on February 19th, 2020 three days before my sister Ryan’s first competition of the year and competing in her first ever solo and then the next two weeks I was everywhere.

In the beginning of “Zoom University” I had to self-quarantine because this was when they were still releasing places where people tested positive and I was in the airport the same day as someone who was positive and I was feeling sick. It is really a miracle and props to pass/fail grades that I did well in my classes. I had to complete philosophy, statistics, and social problems all online. It was nice though to have a break and not have to worry so much about responsibilities and routines, it still was really sad that’s how my first year of college ended.

Sophomore Year, The New Normal

(2020-2021)

This year was a little because we expected something else. I had moved into the Lodge and I was so excited to have my apartment and live on my own, but being in the pandemic and at home for so long my anxiety was not ready to be on my own yet. Having that I only had one 50-minute class in person every week and I couldn’t go anywhere, no one would hire me for a job, and I was just missing my people I decided it was best for me and my mental health at the time to go home and eat my rent but be with my family. After Halloween, I was home full-time with my people, and I was able to connect with a great family nearby to help nanny their two kids (for this we will call them the Johnsons). Mrs. Johnson had a full-time work-from-home job and needed me to help her youngest child sit through school and stay on task, it wasn’t exactly the classroom experience I was looking for but working with kids in any way I can is what I want! I also took up being a “Covid sub” for my dance studio and helped assist with the reception and a couple of classes, which was nice to not only be home again with my family but to also be at home with my 2nd family. My aunt also was sick and it was very helpful for myself and my family that I was home plus we got our puppy Dexter (I love him!)

Second semester I moved back up to Grand Valley and had a few more classes in person and that helped me stay up there longer I was able to tutor kids online through Zoom which was nice to be doing my passion again. In all honesty, I cannot remember much of what I learned throughout this semester other than that I like being around my family and I know that I have to always keep myself busy. But it was nice to know that school/Grand Valley was starting to go towards a new normal?

Junior Year, The Year of Change

(2021-2022)

This year I stayed at the Lodge this time going from having one other roommate to now having three other roommates and living in a bigger unit. At the beginning of the semester, I was going through a couple of personal things and really turned to my class friends for companionship and I made some of the best of friends including our professor Janet Navarro. Having most of my classes in person was nice to back to the swing of things and I also applied for a job in Coopersville MI and started working in a before-school program, I loved it!

The second semester was all about wrapping the last of my classes up before getting into the College of Education and having to student teach. I deep dove into the opportunities I could potentially have with student teaching aboard. I became really close with my “Macaroni Penguins” (a group name given to use by J. Nav. for a group discussion) Rebecca Dennis, Hunter Welch, Kylie Ohrt, and Ella Heggie. I’m so happy they came into my life as I feel like we all can challenge each other in a respectful/constructive way and we all think the same which is just a breath of fresh air to have. At the end of the semester, I received my teacher apprenticeship placement at Coopersville where I work and could continue my before-school job.

Senior Year, Professional Decisions

(2022-2023)

Starting out my senior year of college I finally was in 100% education classes (Building Positive Learning Environments, Methods and Strategies of Special Education Teaching, Principles/Processes/and Methods in Special Education, and Diagnostic and Interpretive Procedures). I was still working at Coopersville, and it was taking a toll on me because of different aspects and taking on too many tasks. Lastly I was also a teacher apprentice in a 3rd grade resource classroom. Having to fit in my job, my classes, and my teacher apprenticeship was a bit of a struggle but I knew that I thrived with being overly busy and I knew that I was doing all of these things for a purpose. In my apprenticeship I learned so much about myself as a teacher but also about the education system as a whole. I worked with Wendy Salyer who has had so many wonderful years in education and she provided me with a lot of techniques to help improve my teaching craft. I experienced my first observations and realized that its not so bad, I also finished my application for studying abroad and was accepted and had to play the waiting game for where I was going ot be placed. This semester was the busiest semester I have had in comparison to the past three years and it was the first year since 2020 where we were no longer required to wear masks.

The second semester rolled around and my schedule continued to stay busy and I was no longer enjoying my time at Coopersville. Being a young 22-year-old old I decided that it was in my best mental health interest to leave the before/after school program. I started a new student teaching placement in a moderately cognitively impaired room at a theme school in Grand Rapids Public Schools. After a couple of weeks, I realized that I did not mesh in this specific classroom and after going back and forth with myself, my friends, my parents, and my teachers we all came to a unified decision that it was best for me to be placed somewhere else. I then was placed in a student teaching place with Katherine Allen at Mulick Park Elementary School, which was the best switch I could have possibly experienced. Now I was student teaching full time and was loving every minute of it, I was working in a k-5 resource room working on individualized skills with each of the students and I fit well with Katie. My time at Mulick also allowed me to find a placement for my next year placement in a general education classroom. I also received my teaching assignment for study abroad and I was assigned Thessaloniki, Greece!

5th Year, “Super Senior Year”

(Fall 2023 and 1st Semester of Grad School)