Sometimes college students fail to appreciate the value of the higher education they are obtaining. But for senior elementary education major Vanessa Schumacher, the importance of receiving an education is of great significance. As such, she aspires to cultivate this attitude in the minds of young students for the rest of her life.

While attending Monmouth College, Schumacher has served as a Scot Ambassador and has maintained membership in such organizations as the Alpha Xi Delta sorority, the Kappa Delta Pi education honorary society and the Blue Key service honorary society. Though she is pleased with her involvement in all of her activities, her proudest accomplishment at the College was being named a Golden Apple Scholar. “I honestly don’t think I would have been able to get the award/scholarship had I gone anywhere else for school because the MC educational studies department prepared me so well for it,” Schumacher commented.

Schumacher is currently student teaching with a kindergarten class, an experience which she considers challenging but rewarding and enjoyable. One moment that stands out in her mind was the day a student was able to correctly identify a picture of a baby kangaroo as a “joey.” She claims that her courses at Monmouth College have prepared her well for this new position. In particular, she cites her “Reading, Writing and Teaching Children’s Literature” class with Becky McDonald as being especially beneficial, stating, “I use so many of those books right now…[and] so it definitely gave me a lot of material that I’ve used already!”

Schumacher says that upon graduating she will most miss “the community feeling” of Monmouth College. Perhaps part of this perceived sense of community on campus can be attributed to the fact that Monmouth, Ill. is in fact her hometown. Though she will always feel a strong attachment to her soon-to-be alma mater, Schumacher also has very specific goals beyond Monmouth College which she hopes to achieve following commencement. She remarks, “[I want to] get a teaching position anywhere in the state of Illinois, hopefully a kindergarten position somewhere near the suburbs.  I’d like to author a children’s picture book sometime, too.”

Return to Home -- Return to Features