Meet our new contributing editor, Adriana Thornton! Adriana has worked as an AmeriCorps member, a middle school ELA teacher, and now, as a Youth Programs Associate at a small arts nonprofit in DC. She’s passionate about education and believes it has the power to transform lives.
Editor-in-Chief Jaylene Perez had the chance to chat with Adriana for a brief Q&A. Below, Adriana shares her experience as an educator, advice she’d wished she’d gotten as a college student, and what she’s been doing for fun now that she’s back home in Arlington, VA. To learn more, just keep reading!
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
J: So, when did you realize you wanted to pursue a career in education?
A: I decided to serve through Americorps at a local nonprofit [Edu Futuro] in my hometown of Arlington, Virginia. That role was mostly just mentoring and facilitating youth programs for Hispanic youths, but also just general underserved communities in northern Virginia. I chose it because I was really connected to the mission of the organization. Edu Futuro is something that I would have benefited from [as a student], if I had known that they existed. It was weird when I was reading the post about the job listing, and I was like, “This is ticking all these boxes for things that I never thought would be important to me in a position post-college.”
In Americorps, I think everyone’s experience can be different, but overall it was very helpful for me to have my first real exposure to working and being a professional adult -- even though I didn’t always feel like a grown-up.
But, I think the big moment of like, “Oh this is something I definitely want to keep doing,” was when we were at George Mason for a graduation ceremony, which happened at the end of each eight-week facilitation program. We were at George Mason and all the four sites came together for a speech competition where each student that’s been the winner of a specific site’s speech competition [gets to compete in] the scholarship competition.
The kids get to showcase what they’ve written, and typically it can be very emotional, because the kids sometimes talk about their parents or their life experiences up until that point. And you really kind of see the adversity that students face at such a young age and are somehow able to persevere through everything. And parents were just incredibly grateful for the work we had put in and the work we had done.
You know working with the kids, giving them feedback, trying to build relationships in really, like, a short amount of time — and especially with high-schoolers — it can be kind of difficult.
So, parents were coming up to me and saying things like, “You’ve literally changed their life. Before this they didn’t have an idea of what they wanted for themselves post-high school, but because of you and this program, they now have an idea, and I can tell there’s a difference in the way that they carry themselves, but also the way they interact with people within the family.”
I mean, that is not something that you can expect or plan for, and so it was very humbling, because, frankly, I just wanted to do a good job. And it was like I got so much more than I really realized.
And I think that’s really when I was like, this is definitely something that I want to keep pursuing. Not because of the great feeling that it is to be able to make an impact in kids’ lives, but it’s more about [the fact that] there’s so much work that needs to get done. There really needs to be more people willing to go into education.
J: What’s been one of the most rewarding experiences in your career so far?
A: When I reflect back on all the kids I’ve been able to work with, it’s kind of hard to pinpoint the most rewarding moment. But, personally, the kid I think about the most is a student I was able to work with, one of my fifth-graders from New York.
He really struggled when it came to reading comprehension and reading fluency. It was all about the long game and just pulling him out of class, helping him practice reading aloud, and coaching him through decoding certain things in the text. And with time, he improved so much. And it was also great because he was also able to recognize that for himself. And I think it really did help him socially and emotionally within school. Obviously his grades improved, but it was more about him feeling great about making those literary gains.
It was just something that I could really like...at the end, you know, especially at the end of the year when things get really hard as a teacher, I could think back on that. And even now, even though my role is really different, I can reflect on those moments that I had with that student which have been very important to me, because I also struggled when I was younger with reading comprehension, and it is very difficult because we need to be strong readers for everything. When I saw him upset about certain things relating to that, I understood truly what he was feeling. At the end of the year, the kids wrote on little construction papers for teacher appreciation week, and he wrote, “Thanks for helping me grow as a reader.”
It’s just very sweet that a ten year old can be that aware of a situation. So yeah, I think that really is one of the top ones.
J: What’s something you would tell your 18-year-old self or someone who’s currently in school?
A: I think especially in college, such a huge issue students deal with is imposter-syndrome. It’s important to recognize that, and know that sometimes you’re going to feel like you don’t know what is going on, but you need to really lean into yourself and recognize that you actually do have important contributions to make. And that the sooner you realize that, the more effective you can be in creating change.
But also as a college student, I almost took an education class, but then last minute I had to change my schedule. And I think it would have been really helpful and great to have tried to pursue that sooner. [Education] was sort of an interest, but it was something that I was kind of deciding to not truly look at. I think college is really about soaking up the opportunity to just, like, literally grow your brain for four years, which is phenomenal. It’s a true privilege to have that experience, and I think I would have advised my younger self to do that a little bit more.
J: What do you like to do in your free time?
I recently moved back within the last year, which still feels recent. So, I’m still trying to remember how to be a person here. (Laughs). But, I love to bake and I love hanging out with my dog, Pebbles. She’s lovely. And also seeing the changes that have happened in Arlington specifically, I really want to explore and get out there and make friends.
I also enjoy going to concerts and I love to read. I think that’s something I really missed after I left college, the true feeling of being in a learning zone, and I realized that just because college is over, it doesn’t mean I have to stop reading excessively and learning about different things. So that’s something I’ve definitely been more into.
J: And finally, why are you becoming a part of The Niche Movement community?
A: I think I just honestly thought back on all the experiences and opportunities that I’ve had -- not just in the past few years post-grad, but also being in college -- and I feel like there’s obviously a lot that I would probably have wanted to do differently, but at the same time I am happy with where I am now. I would love to have the opportunity to share my different experiences with people, and maybe that influences them in some way.
And what better way to do that than through writing? Especially on a platform that is created for young professionals or career changers to get out there and do what they want. A lot of times in the past few years, I’ve felt like I didn’t know what I wanted at certain points, and I would love to be able to help someone who maybe doesn’t know what their next move is. And they read an article that I’ve written about Americorps and they’re like, “Okay, sure, why not, I’ll look into it?” I would be helping not just to create change, but inspiring others to take new opportunities. You cannot ask for something better in life than that, honestly.
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