Kelsie Jardine ‘20 spent her summer a bit differently than she ever has before. Working for Upward Bound as a counselor and teacher gave her insight into what her professional career after Thomas College will be like.

This past summer she worked as a counselor and teacher for Geometry at Northern Vermont University-Lyndon Upward Bound.

“Upward Bound gives students an opportunity they otherwise wouldn’t have received. They show students that they can be successful when they don’t think they can,” said Kelsie. “They show students that they’re allowed to do good things, and at a place like Upward Bound you can achieve those things.”

She was qualified for this opportunity because of her experience at Thomas College. As a Secondary Education-Mathematics major, Kelsie was eager to get as much hands-on experience as possible during her time on campus, which lead her to become a Peer Tutor through the Student Success Center.

“Becoming a Peer Tutor and attending training has helped to familiarize me with different learning styles and how to best teach to them,” said Kelsie.

During her time at Thomas, Kelsie has found many mentors who have helped shaped her teaching style. “I’m thankful for the Student Success staff, Jes Crowell and Cote Theriault, in particular. Jes’s passion for teaching and willingness to help students inspires me to be the best teacher I can be. Cote introduced me to the technical side of teaching and has given me a lot of resources and experiences through tutoring.”

“Teaching students at Upward Bound validated what I’ve discovered at Thomas – that I am meant to be an educator,” said Kelsie.