Teachers are supportive pillars for a student’s success. They encourage, provide and assist in change geared toward growth. CSU Stanislaus is filled with ambitious aspiring teachers who hope to unite with this change. 
Jasmine Pimentel (senior, English) plans to be a middle school English teacher. She aims to create student-centered learning environments where she can facilitate. 
“I want my students to look up to me as a role model,” Pimentel said. “I will encourage my students to live up to their full potential inside and outside of the classroom.” 
Similarly, Jessica Faletti-Garza  (junior, English) desires to be the kind of teacher that students can trust and feel validated around. 
“I hope that students look at me not as a dictator, but as someone who wants them to succeed because I have faith that everyone can learn if they put the work/dedication in,” she said.

Stan State has professors who have impacted and affected many students throughout their journey. With hard work and dedication, teachers, even aspiring ones, stimulate their students by reminding them that things are possible and do get better. 

Soleil Jones (senior, English) says that Rachel Grimshaw and Scott Davis have been very impactful professors and she’d love to follow in their footsteps. 
“They’ve each taught me so much as a student, writer, and future professor, and the kind of person I want to be in academia,” says Jones.
She continued by expressing her gratitude for their kindness.
“They’re two professors I know I can count on for support and reassurance every time,” she said.  
Elizabeth Gutierrez (junior, English) wants to pursue teaching. She said it’s a struggle to choose just one professor from the English department to credit for her success but if she had to choose one who has helped her, she’d say Dr. Jennifer Pace Wittman. 
“Her poise, openness, and empathy as an educator truly is unlike anything that I have encountered in my past 15 years of education,” she said. “I can only hope that I am able to build a connection and sense of community amongst my students as she does with her own.” 
Pimentel adds to Wittman’s grace, “I strongly recommend others to take her for adolescence literature because she highlights diverse books that we teachers should implement into the classroom.”
On the subject of impactful educators, Alina Yang (senior, English) highlights Professor Pamela Young. 
“Professor Young teaches by being an indicator and suggester,” said Yang. “She is the ultimate support system that I’ve always dreamed to give to my students one day.”
Yang added that she hopes her students will see their future more clearly when they see her. 
“I want to make their path to success as exciting and smooth as can be,” she said. 
Cecilia Xiong (junior, English) builds on Young’s impact. 
“I enjoy her teaching style and the ways in which she tries to get her students to learn without feeling pressure to get all the information right,” she said.  
Teachers play such a vital role in shaping the minds of future and current students. They take a hand, touch a mind and heal a heart. Being able to create a safe and welcoming environment is essentially where the magic happens. 
Gutierrez explains the kind of atmosphere she wants to cultivate when she becomes an educator.  
“I hope to implement the ideas of fluidity in opinions and comments to have well-rounded conversations,” she said. “I also will push to provide students with characteristics that will serve as an aide in morphing them into positive, contributing members of our community.”
Garza wants to be the kind of teacher that students can trust and feel validated around. These emotions of acceptance are critical in opening a space for a student that is welcoming and kind.
“I will be there to guide my students through their hardships if they have the courage to come to me for help,” she said.  
Caring and emotionally supportive classrooms are particularly important for students who have had challenging life and/or school experiences.
Stan State Alumni, Jamie Hawthorne (2022) majored in Liberal studies. She was a student in the Multiple Subject Credential Program.
Hawthorne shares, “Students are much more likely to remember and make deeper connections to experiences than information. The more we can support students having experiences with the curriculum, the more likely students will be to think critically and find intrinsic motivation to stay curious and grow.”
Jones shares how important it is for students to simply exist in curiosity.
“We could be strong individuals on our own, but to have an academic figure to look up to can further encourage students to feel like school IS a safe place to be,” Jones said. 
The future of education is bright, and the aspiring teachers of Stan State are blossoming resiliently.