Carla MacDonald

I attribute my success to grit and resilience, fear of the poverty that I grew up in, and the drive for financial security. I also credit my passion for teaching and my passion for helping learners to master and understand new things that they might not have at the beginning of their educational journey with me. The best career advice I ever received was from my parents, who said education is the way out of poverty and education is the way to change your life. I literally took that advice to heart - I was the first to go to college in my family, and I've got every level of degree you can get.

The best career advice I ever received was from my parents, who told me that education is the way out of poverty and education is the way to change your life. I was the first to go to college in my family, so I didn't have anyone else to guide me in that way. I literally took that advice and ran with it - I've got a degree at every level you can get, from Associate all the way up to Doctorate.

My advice is do not be scared to enter education. We need good educators, and we need positive role models. Remember all the time off you get - that's a benefit. In what other industry are you going to get a fall break, a spring break, a summer break? And personally, when I'm trying to convince my high school students to become teachers, I tell them you get to stand up and you get to teach about something you're passionate about, a subject that you love. And you get to unlock that inside your learners. Even if they walk into your room without that passion, like when I taught AP Macro this semester and had a student say they think they want to minor in econ now, you know those kind of things mean you're making an impact on their lives. We need good teachers. That's what I think is most important. We need very good teachers. We need people that are passionate about their academia and passionate about wanting to help students. My experience is I've never been cussed out or anything like that in public education. I think all that is kind of just a little bit of fear-mongering we see on social media, but it's all about how you treat the children from day one. I always tell my students, I am never gonna raise my voice, I'm never gonna cuss at you, I'm never gonna put you down. And in return, I ask for the same. And I've never had trouble. I understand that I might be the only adult today that does not yell at them or put them down. I will be that role model for them, to say there's a good adult out there.

The most important value to me is presenting myself professionally and separating myself personally and professionally. As a professional, when I'm standing in front of students, regardless if it's high school or college, because I've done both, my personal opinions about this world do not have a place there. My job is to teach how for you to think for yourself. I am not there to teach you what to think. I think that is very important to remember - that as a professional, your personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions do not always belong in your professional world.