The comfortable desk seating, differentiated lighting, cultural background décor, and a welcoming environment are the scenery English major and secondary education minor Lucy Cockrell wants to show within her future classroom. 

At 15, Cockrell saw teaching as the light at the end of her tunnel. It all started with volunteering at her church and working with kids.

“Sophomore year of high school, I got a job at my church teaching Sunday school to elementary students and found that being in that environment was what I wanted to do in the future,” she said.

Cockrell’s passion for teaching not only comes from her church experiences but also comes from the motivation and skills she brings.

“What motivates me to become an English teacher is my love for reading and writing and the importance of it. Especially working with middle school and high school students,” Cockrell said. “It’s important for them to know if they are planning to go to college or not, that having this knowledge will be beneficial for their future.”

The goals that Cockrell wants to accomplish when it comes to being a teacher are all about the students and what they learn throughout her coursework.

“I want to leave an impact on my students and make sure they learn something they might have never known before. I also want to make an impact on the public school system to make it a better learning environment,” Cockrell said.

With Cockrell being a first-generation college student, her drive was to show her family that she will do whatever it takes to conquer her goals.

Cockrell has a huge support system when it comes to her goals, but she also wants to prove to them that being a teacher is the right path for her career.

“Even though my mom and grandma are my number-one supporters, they have their doubts about me getting a job and making enough money. But I want to show them the best teacher I can be and prove them wrong,” Cockrell said.

Coming from Burlington, IA, Cockrell knew that Simpson College was the right spot to begin her teaching career path even with it being 150 miles from home.

She was thinking about going to UNI as a second option but realized Simpson was the right place for her.

“It is a tight-knit community and is very supportive when it comes to the education program at Simpson, which is exactly why I chose it,” Cockrell said.

Some of Cockrell’s favorite memories over the course of her three and a half years at Simpson would be the extracurriculars she was involved in.

“My favorite memories would probably be being a part of the Sequel editing team and working in the Writing Center,” she said, “I enjoyed the people I worked with but also loved helping students by giving them feedback on their papers.”

She mentioned that the education department at Simpson has given her many opportunities to prepare herself to become a teacher.

“Practicum and student-teaching have been great opportunities to grow my knowledge in a school setting and be able to interact with students in a way that I will when my teacher journey begins,” Cockrell said.

Cockrell is ready to take the world by storm after graduation in December of 2022 and show everyone how she will impact her students by becoming a future educator.