Lizzy Konopelski is currently a senior at Trinity University majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Lizzy decided to attend Trinity for the wonderful education and because her mother had also attended Trinity. Throughout her four years as a student, she has been invested in pursuing different opportunities in the Department of Education through various classes and on-site visits to schools in the local San Antonio area.
Q: Why did you decide to Minor in Education?
A: I think I had known since high school that I had a passion for working with kids. And so I really wanted to explore that career path. I thought doing the minor would help kind of figure out what I want to do with my life.
Q: What has your experiences been like in the program so far?
A: It's been so fun! I feel like you get to have lots of different experiences with all types of children, and it's allowed me to realize that I want to focus on special education. I have really enjoyed getting that volunteer experience and the actual one-on-one time working with students in the classroom each week.
Q: What do you think has been the most valuable thing you've learned in the program?
A: I would say on a special education track, I feel like I have really come to understand how to help students of all backgrounds with all needs. Also learning how to allow them to understand themselves and to grow into lifelong learners.
Q: What is one of your favorite classes in the minor?
A: I think my personal favorite was Child and Adolescent Development. It's a really important class that I think all students should have the opportunity to take and for people to understand child and adolescent development as a whole. And I really liked that we were able to see a lot of different preschools and experience that.
Q: What has the experience been of going into the schools?
A: So I feel like COVID took away some of the opportunities. But specifically, like pre-COVID, we had a lot of experience creating our own lesson plans and actually being able to teach the lessons. And I feel like that really sets us up for future careers either in teaching, school psychology, or whatever you want to do. And there's a lot of room for growth and improvement.
Q: Who is one of your favorite education professors and why?
A: There are so many. Okay, I feel like one of my favorites is definitely Dr. Siller. She taught Teaching Math in Elementary School and the Field Seminar Elementary Literacy. And I feel like she's really helped me grow confident in my ability to teach and create lesson plans. She's always there to help support you when you kind of don't really know how to go about doing a lesson or working with a child individually. She's always there to help you figure that out.
Q: What are your future plans?
A: I want to do a Master's in School Psychology. So while I'm not doing teaching or the MAT like a lot of other people in the Education minor, I get to combine my psychology major with the minor to help further me in that area. I want to work with students of all needs and help them get what they need to meet their goals within an education system, so that they can still be successful learners.
Q: Would you recommend an Education minor?
A: I think the minor is great for anybody that's even just considering education in any sort of aspect. I'd really encourage everybody to at least try out a class to see if they like it. There's a lot of different fields of education besides teaching that often are not explored, and I think the minor really helps you explore those options and possibilities.
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