Jennifer Lucatuorto

I graduated from MBU with a Bachelors of Arts in Elementary Education in 2012 and was offered an incredible job as a fifth grade teacher prior to graduating. I later came to find out that out of 2,000 applicants, I was one of the 28 chosen! I believe that I would not have succeeded in my interviews if it had not been for the knowledge and skills I accrued at Missouri Baptist University. I chose this field because I want to make a difference in childrens lives. I understand that this is clich, but I can think of no other way to describe it. I want to give the love and acceptance some children are missing in their lives. I aim to build strong relationships with my students, showing them that I am a safe haven for their innermost thoughts and struggles. I also chose this field because I have had an immense passion for teaching since the age of seven. While packing to move to St. Louis from Canada, I came across a homework assignment that I had completed in the first grade. The task was to answer questions about our lives in the future. I had thoughtfully written that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up and make twenty dollars a year. Well, my dream came true thanks to the education program at Missouri Baptist. Fortunately, I make more than twenty dollars yearly, but would willingly teach for free. I am now enrolled at MBU to attain my masters degree in wducation. I believe in the importance of gaining new insight into the ever changing scholastic trends such as technology, curriculum and instruction, inquiry-based learning, character education and constructivism. Based on my experience attaining my baccalaureate at MBU, I am certain that I will acquire new resourceful perspectives from both my professors and classmates. My professional plans for using my degree when I have completed my Masters in Education are to apply the new information I procure into my own classroom. I have confidence that through this program, I will obtain the necessary components that will contribute to a higher level of teacher performance, thus becoming an instructional leader throughout my career.