"I feel like teachers have the ability to create an enormous impact. I hope that my students learn tolerance and respect for themselves and each other. I want my students to feel as though they belong to a safe and caring community so that they can continue that community into their adulthood.

My education at UAF will allow me to become a teacher, provide me with the education to assist my students, and thus give me the ability to impact my students."

– Jasmine Study, UAF Elementary Education

"I want to be that difference. If not emotionally, then I want to be the teacher that makes learning enjoyable, creative, and considerate. When I tutored peers this last year in Geometry, their teacher told me that I helped them pass classes they normally wouldn't have and that they actually thought math was fun when it was with me.

I had no clue I had that much of an effect on them and I now consider one of my greatest aspirations in life is to help."

– Kayanna Healy, UAF Secondary Education

“I knew and could see how much Indigenous educators were needed. Homegrown teachers are uniquely prepared for the needs of our diverse communities across Alaska. While working full time, I was able to earn my Master of Arts in Teaching through University of Alaska Southeast and here I am many years later! I feel so grateful to have followed my heart into the classroom.”

- Josephine Mattison, UAS Master of Arts in Teaching

“I got into education because I had the privilege of studying under a dynamic choir director when I was in high school and after singing in his choirs, it was game over. Teaching music was what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I’ve taught everything from classroom music to high school choir to online music during the time of quarantine. But regardless of what grade I teach, my goal has always been to inspire my students to find the joy in the music making process – and I do the by taking challenging classes every summer through the University of Alaska, and I implement what I learn in my summer classes into my classroom in the fall. I’ve loved seeing the growth in my as an educator as well as the growth in my students.”