My Grandmother Always Knew I’d Be a Teacher

Posted February 7, 2026February 9, 2026 in Stories, Students, Teacher Education

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Writing teaches you to notice what others skim past. It teaches you to listen for subtext, to sit with uncertainty, and to understand that meaning is shaped as much by care as by structure. Those instincts run through the way Alexandra Liebman thinks about teaching. A student in the Teacher Education MAT program, she came to the classroom with a deep investment in creative writing and storytelling, and she has carried that sensibility with her into student teaching. Her reflections resist formulas and scripts, insisting instead on attention, intention, and heart. What follows is Alexandra’s account of how those instincts found their place in education.

Arriving at Teaching on My Own Timeline

For the longest time, my grandmother predicted that I was going to be a teacher, even before I began my college journey. I always enjoyed working with children, from babysitting to volunteering at UrbanPromise, but I never fully imagined education as my career. For many years, I wanted to be a writer and took a range of creative writing and literacy courses. However, my advisors cautioned me that the creative writing field was unpredictable and could be cutthroat.

The MAT program has played a significant role in preparing me for this stage… The professors are consistently supportive and accessible.
Alexandra Liebman

As I began taking courses in journalism and marketing, I assumed I would major in one of those areas. I also wrote for several college organizations at Muhlenberg College, including Odyssey and HerCampus. At one point, I served as editor-in-chief of Odyssey, where I enjoyed overseeing other writers, editing their work, providing feedback, and interviewing students who applied to write for the publication.

Although I volunteered with children through literacy and afterschool programs focused on reading and health, I continued to push the idea of becoming an educator aside. I attempted to complete the education program at my college but struggled with the math portion. I was informed that without completing those courses, I would not be able to continue in the program. Due to the difficulty of the math courses and a math learning disability, I ultimately had to step away.

During this period, I also participated in the Disney College Program for six months, from January 2018 through August of the same year, and believed I would pursue a role on the company’s marketing team. Over time, I realized I lacked sufficient experience, having taken only a few related courses. I was later denied an internship at a well-known marketing company in Philadelphia after completing their three-day externship.

After graduation, I worked at a supermarket for two years and later enrolled in hotel and restaurant management courses after being turned down for a pastry department position due to limited experience. Aside from occasional babysitting, I felt increasingly lost and unmotivated, stuck in a routine of ringing up groceries, overseeing self-checkout, and delivering online orders to customers’ cars.

When COVID-19 began, it became a turning point. I learned through Facebook about pod tutoring, where tutors worked with small groups of students in family homes to support online learning. I worked with a wonderful family, and as I supported their two sons in math, literacy, science, and social studies, my sense of purpose returned strongly. At that point, I committed to the education field and have not looked back since. In the end, my grandmother may have known all along.

When Working With Children Became the Answer

I have enjoyed working with children for as long as I can remember. During my senior year of high school, I volunteered with UrbanPromise, an afterschool program that provides a safe environment for students in Camden to complete homework with support from volunteers. One young girl in the program looked up to me and greeted me with a huge smile each day. She shared the challenges she faced in her community, which helped me understand how often school serves as a safe and consistent space for children and how teachers become trusted figures in their lives.

I also volunteered with inner-city students in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where I helped students develop handwriting and reading skills. Hearing their appreciation and watching their confidence grow brought me a level of fulfillment that nothing else had matched.

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Learning to Teach in a Real Classroom

As I begin student teaching, I am excited to learn the core components of the profession, from understanding the school’s curriculum to planning and delivering effective lessons. My cooperating teacher has been incredibly supportive and has helped me build confidence in the classroom. One quote she often shares that has stayed with me is, “Teaching is not scripted. It comes from the heart.”

The MAT program has played a significant role in preparing me for this stage. Many assignments were grounded in real classroom scenarios and allowed us to practice skills we now apply in our clinical experiences. These included writing lesson plans, developing accommodations and modification plans for exceptional learners, and creating effective behavior management plans.

The professors are consistently supportive and accessible. They provide detailed feedback on assignments, lesson plans, and teaching resumes, which has helped me grow into a more confident and prepared educator.

There are many skills I hope to strengthen during student teaching, but one of my primary goals is improving time management. Educators are expected to cover multiple subjects within a limited timeframe, and I sometimes find myself overexplaining concepts, which causes lessons to run long.

My cooperating teacher has been very helpful in offering feedback on how to streamline lessons, limit the number of questions addressed during instruction, and adjust lesson plans so they fit within the allotted time while still meeting instructional goals.