Nearly four years after declaring her major in English-secondary education, senior Maggie Driggers began student teaching this semester. Driggers is currently interning with senior English students at West Florence High School in Florence.

Driggers has maintained president’s list every semester since beginning FMU and currently has a 4.0 grade point average. She has been devoted to her teaching goals and has attended and presented at various English conferences—one of her most recent projects involved infusing and utilizing multiple digital tools in the English classroom with Dr. Meredith Love, associate professor of English at FMU. She is also a member of Sigma Tau Delta, international English honor society.

Driggers comes from a family of educators, so there was not a doubt in her mind that she would teach. Her mother, older sister, both of her uncles and her aunt all teach in the classroom. Driggers says that being in her family means “you are born to be a teacher.”

The teachers and staff at West Florence have grown fond of Driggers’ presence as she educates their students.

Carla Summersett, department chair and teacher of English, supervises Driggers and acts as her mentor in the classroom.  Summersett remarked on her enthusiasm towards Driggers’ role.

“I am wonderfully excited to have Maggie as my student teacher this semester,” Summersett said. “She is so wonderfully creative and professional that I forget that she is only a college senior and view her as another full-fledged teacher in the classroom. It’s been more of a team-teaching experience than CT/ST relationship.”

Driggers claims that she has learned so much about her students and the profession that she otherwise never thought about before entering the classroom. According to Driggers, being a teacher calls for constant learning about disciplining.

“I learned that discipline is never as easy as some teachers make it out to be,” Driggers said. “On my very first teaching day in the classroom, one of the sweetest students I have forgot his ID for the second time, and Mrs. Summersett made me write him up! I wanted to cry!”

Driggers feels that FMU helped make her dream come true. She confides in several professors in the university—Dr. Nelson, associate professor of English; Dr. Ramsey, professor of English and Ms. Brandis, director of field experiences. These professors have held the highest level of confidence in her, and she suggests that they prepared her for more than just being in the classroom.

Driggers will graduate in May 2013, and she hopes to secure a teaching position before graduation.