Katie Mathews

I think it's really important to do some self-reflection on what fills your cup, what gives you passion, what you feel is a calling or your vocation, because that is so important when you think about a career. I tell my students a lot that this is a journey - there is not one major or one career for the rest of your life. Be open to what the journey has, and if you constantly put yourself in some uncomfortable situations and push yourself to always grow and learn, remembering you do not know everything, that's when the magic happens. When I think about really pivotal points in my own career and learning journey, I had fabulous mentors, most of them were amazing women who I am very grateful to. Curate those relationships where you can go to folks and say, 'Hey, this is an area of growth for me, I want to learn more, I'm ready for a career change,' and make sure you keep up that reputation so folks are excited to work with you and help you. But it's also a cycle - now I have mentored and helped others too. We just gotta find our people, be open to the journey, keep learning, keep growing. Once you find your vocation, the hard days are still hard, but it works.

The biggest challenges are helping my students find their next chapter in our current political climate. The conversation has really shifted in the past few years. I now have to talk with students about states where they need to be aware of their rights as women in terms of healthcare, states with laws regarding LGBTQ identity for my LGBTQ students, and for students or families on the immigration spectrum, which states and cities are going to be more challenging. The Department of Education seems to change every day. It's really hard when there's so many things outside of their control and my control when I have a really awesome kid who just wants to be their authentic self and feel safe when they're at college. It's very sad and challenging that this has become so incredibly multi-layered and difficult, especially for my Black and Brown kids - here's the states where DEI efforts have been shut down. It doesn't matter if I know the rankings of a college or what majors they have if you don't feel safe, I'm not sending you there. Mental health is also a really big challenge with our adolescent community. Within those challenges, though, there have been opportunities for conversations with my students about how to advocate for themselves and how we make a really complicated decision within areas that are not in our control. Those are really good life learning lesson opportunities. The biggest thing has been watching some of my students grow in their advocacy for themselves and their families. My goal is that they always know that if something's going on, they can come to me and I'm gonna help them get through it, making sure that they feel safe and seen and heard in the little control that I have.

I would say kindness - I think that needs to be in the world more and can go a long way. Professionally, I'm a big advocate, and I want my students to advocate for themselves. I think advocacy is so important, and also understanding that sometimes it's not gonna go our way and sometimes we're gonna have to say unpopular things or push in directions that need to be pushed, and it's hard. Personally, I want my own girls to come home every day and know that they are loved and accepted and supported. I just wish there was more kindness in the world, I wish that other folks would advocate and step up when things are not going the right way. I've been in education for a really long time, and I think about how can we be more student-first and student-centered, especially when it comes to education, because I think a lot of decisions that are made regarding education are unfortunately typically made by folks who are not directly in contact with students, and decisions are not always student-focused and student-first. If I got to wave my magic wand, I would fix the education world.