Ria Purcell

I think just being optimistic - I'm always optimistic, regardless of what I'm going through. I feel like I always have a positive attitude. I'm accepting and I always accept others, and I'm not judgmental, so it doesn't matter where you're from or what your name is, I will accept you. I also just think I'm dedicated, so whatever I do, I always follow through with my goals and I push through. Even if it's a learner that wants to get their GED in a given time, like 3 months, then I'm dedicated to help them out. I feel like those three - being optimistic, accepting, and dedicated - are really the top attributes for sure.

My mentor Leela Magdaleno told me to just keep going. She said, you know, you might be struggling now, but you're gonna figure it out. I think just staying resilient and optimistic and positive within life - she definitely was the one I told about the LSAT, and she said don't worry, like, OutSchool will work out, like, you seem like a teacher already. She just always told me to stay resilient, and I'm forever grateful. I actually talk to her once a month or she'll reach out, but yeah, she's an amazing person for sure.

I would say to accept everyone. You never know what people are going through, and you never know how much of an inspiration you could be to others. Be accepting and open people, accept people with opening arms. You never know, you could be a light in somebody else's life, and they might not have that, so be accepting, I'd say, for sure.

I would say just balancing learning styles within the classes. I always try to promote an accepting environment, and at times, it could be a challenge, but I always am able to accept others and suit my lessons that best match people's needs. It's about finding a way to incorporate the more quieter ones with the more louder ones - some learners are shy at first while others are super extroverted. I try to make my classrooms inclusive through interactive lessons where I ask them how they got their answer and what their reasoning is. All of the learners I've worked with say that my classes are so fun, which is so great to hear, because in traditional school it's always so strict and not fun and inviting.

Helping others is definitely a hobby of mine, and if I wasn't able to do that, I wouldn't be fulfilled, for sure. I always try to help people that are under the poverty line since I grew up in Section 8 housing. I always try to promote a positive learning environment, just because I always wish I had that growing up myself. I think staying humble and accepting others is really important - I personally have had all the people that I look up to and learn from be women myself, so I've always been humble. I want to keep it known to really just stay humble and just accept others.