Grace Nedza

Philosophy Statement

March 22, 2021

Philosophy Statement

In the future, I am excited to be exposed to many different people, places, and ideas

even if they are very different than mine. Diversity has never been something that scares me. I

have always been a person who loves adventure and new experiences, so facing different

things is another insightful adventure for me. I hope that in the future, far and near, I can learn

and grow from being put into situations that are very different from my normal environments. I

think being pushed out of my comfort zone is a very important step for myself and for my future

students. For example, if I am the teacher and a student approaches me with a question or

statement about something that I am not even familiar with, I can still be comfortable to talk to

them about it or refer them to another adult. In my experiences, some of my teachers have been

very closed minded and have not promoted diversity which, as a student, made me feel

uncomfortable and untrustworthy of the teacher. 

If I pursue this path of education, almost all my time will be devoted to teaching, guiding,

coaching, and leading others. This may sound intimidating and a very big task, but I am excited

to get the opportunity to work with so many young people. I hope that I will be able to build close

connections with students and really get to know them on a deeper level. In my high school

experience, I had a few teachers who really went above and beyond by getting to know us on a

deeper level than just their students. They genuinely cared about us and worked to understand

our situations, outside of school life, and our personalities. Because of this, I felt I could go to

my teachers and could get advice from them because they knew what worked for me and knew

what advice would stick with me. After experiencing this, I hope I can turn around and do the

same for my future students. I believe that each student deserves my attention and an outreach

from me. My whole life I have been unsure of what I wanted to do with my life, so I believe I can
give real advice to students who are also in this situation. My main goal in this area is to make

students feel more comfortable at school and get them excited about being at school. In doing

this, I will be able to build relationships and help students approach their own, individual paths.

Collaboration has always been a big part of my life and something that I look forward to.

I love talking to people and being around people. In my experiences, school was always better

as a student when teachers encouraged collaboration because you got to be with new people

and make new friends. As I build my philosophy for my future self, collaboration is one of the

most significant aspects. I believe that sometimes a teacher cannot successfully translate

material to the students, but a student’s classmate may be able to. Students learn from each

other by gaining new perspectives from talking to each other. Not only is collaboration among

students important, but also the collaborations amongst teachers and between students and

teachers. As a teacher, I will reach out to other teachers and collaborate with them to share my

ideas and gain new ones. Also, I believe that the teacher and their students must collaborate to

get the most beneficial learning environment because both voices are being heard. Student’s

voices must be heard and incorporated by the teacher into their learning experience.

As I become a professional, I hope to keep my bubbly and spunky personality. I feel that

when people become professionals, they sometimes lose themselves and get so wrapped up in

stress and worrying. I want to wake up every day and be excited to go to my job because I will

get to be with people. I think this integrity and responsibility is especially important in education

because if you are not excited and positive, then your student’s will probably mirror your

behavior of stress, sadness, etc. I hope to gain the respect of my students and coworkers, but I

do not want to have a strict and authoritarian persona. I hope that people will see me as a

professional who genuinely cares and wants to be a resource for everyone. One main goal I

want to develop for myself is being more flexible and accepting of change. I tend to stick to very

strict schedules, but I know when I become a professional, I will have to change my plans and

be able to flip things around.