From student to teacher, this grad absolutely loves her new career

From Elizabeth Bontz ‘09, Family and Consumer Science major

I wake up every morning, at 6:15, take a shower, eat breakfast, prepare myself for the day, and drive 25 minutes to school as if this has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Well, that’s because it has been, except rather than a student in a school setting, I am now a full time teacher. I teach Family and Consumer Sciences at Elmwood High School, and at 22 years old, I am in some instances only four years older than my students.

I made it through Bradley in just four years, something that seems near impossible to accomplish in 2009. Through hard work, and absence of the cliché college life style, I persevered and even graduated with honors. For my student teaching assignment I was placed in the very school I had so desired and requested. Little did I know, I would be hired to teach there the following year. It was a very comforting feeling to walk across the stage at graduation knowing I had a job with a steady income, and better yet, money to begin paying off student loans.

Elmwood is a rather small rural community, so I was assigned extra responsibilities as head junior high softball coach and a sophomore class sponsor. I started my coaching responsibilities at the end of July, before the school year had even begun. I was anxious, excited, and honestly could not sleep the night before my first practice. Once the softball season and school year were in full swing, I was extremely stressed and emotional. To put it simply, everyday was overwhelming, yet I was having the time of my life.  It didn’t take me long to realize that I absolutely love my career, and the school that I work in.

My day begins at 7:45 when I arrive in my classroom, and I am busy from start to finish. Family and Consumer Sciences is a broad subject to teach, meaning I actually teach 6 different classes. I begin the mornings with a preschool program that pairs my high school students with 3-5 year-old children.  Next I have a Foodservice class that prepares a salad bar in the cafeteria. That is followed by a Fashions class, where my students construct individual projects, such as flannel pants, purses, and blankets. I have two food and nutrition classes in which students learn a great deal about food science and nutrition. But, my main goal for this class is for the students to feel comfortable working in a kitchen.  Lastly, I have a 7th grade class that is introduced to every aspect of FCS. I am amazed at how much interest and energy the 7th grade students bring to each class.

My job is so fun, and something I look forward to every day, I think it is still surreal that this is my career. This is what I have to look forward to for the next 30 some years, hopefully. I would like to give hope to those Bradley students that think they will never make it through, or believe that it will be worse after graduation. After all that I had been through in college, with the continual stress, homework, tests, and being broke, I fully believe that life after college is much more fulfilling. Isn’t that why we go to college in the first place?

No duct tape for this graduate

From Mark Bright ‘09, Electrical Engineering major

As one would imagine, you can’t use duct tape to fix a nuclear power plant - this is where I come in.

I am an Instrumentation and Controls Engineer for Sargent & Lundy in downtown Chicago. What we do is consulting, engineering, and design for electric power plants all over the world. Specifically, I create electrical control systems for nuclear power plants. This relates to anything inside of a plant that needs to be monitored, moved, or manipulated by electricity. My summer was spent learning the basic rules and regulations about power plants. My days since then have been spent doing calculations, reviewing schematics, and learning more about this field through company lectures. It is not uncommon some days for me to use my calculator more than my keyboard. I’ve only done a little traveling thus far, but that will change, so I’m catching my breath until then.

A few days after moving my tassel, I became a resident of the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago, living two blocks north of the field. Most of the summer revolved around getting to as many Cubs games as possible and celebrating the few times they did win. This is by far one of the best places to live with so many people my age and has several distractions to cure a boring day. Moving into an apartment with my sister is an adjustment I’m still getting used to. But I’m fine with a door-to-desk commute of 20 minutes every day. Outside of work, I explore the city every chance I get and spend time with friends who either work or attend grad school here.  I even had a slight brush with Hollywood this summer when the latest “Meet the Parents” sequel was shot in both my backyard and the CTA train station above it. For a week straight, I was living on my porch watching all the filming. One day I even grabbed an off-screen cameo with Ben Stiller.

I’m thankful for the significant influence that Bradley has had on me. Not only do I enjoy working in my field, but I’m in an ideal environment for someone who just graduated college. In many ways I can say that BU played a key role in this. Bradley has a superior reputation in the engineering field and I work with several Bradley alumni throughout my company.

A life of service

Sarah Johnson graduated in May ‘09 with a degree in English. She is teaching in an inner city school in Chicago while working on a degree from Northwestern University.

It’s not uncommon for me to hear gunshots in my neighborhood, or to see catfights outside my window.  When I walk outside, I am often stopped by police and asked, “Do you live here?”  The answer is always a vehement, “Yes.”

I live on the South Side of Chicago, near the Englewood neighborhood.  It’s not exactly the type of place you would expect a young, successful college graduate to live but I choose to live here, because I choose to live in solidarity with the students I teach.

I volunteer for an organization called Inner City teaching Corps, which places young teachers in underserved public and private schools across Chicago.  Though I always knew I wanted to perform some type of service work after I received my degree from Bradley, I wasn’t always sure what I wanted my service work to be.  Early on, I looked into the Peace Corps; however, living alone in a foreign country for two years seemed daunting.  As an English and Secondary Education major, I began looking at programs that exemplified my passion for teaching.  The search for a “perfect” service program led me to the Inner City Teaching Corps where I am currently in the middle of a two-year commitment as a volunteer teacher.

Though the main purpose of ICTC is to place young teachers in schools across Chicago, ICTC is really a conglomeration of volunteer teaching, community living, and graduate school all rolled up into a neat little package.

My days are jam-packed with obligations and responsibilities I must fulfill to my students, my community members, and my graduate school professors.  Daily, for my students, I must plan lessons that are both informative and engaging, grade papers, call parents, and find ways to cope with the behavioral issues that arise.  As if the responsibilities and demands on a 1^st year teacher aren’t hard enough, I must also return home and fulfill my responsibilities to my seven community members.

Luckily, my community members have become both best friends and family to me.  As we are all first year teachers, we support each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly.  This makes mundane tasks such as cleaning our bathrooms, cooking dinner, or washing dishes easier to bear at the end of a long day.

Finally, I also must make time in my schedule to fulfill requirements for the graduate courses I am taking at Northwestern University.  Weekly, my fellow corps members and I make the commute to Evanston to attend classes.

Though my Bradley education prepared me in many ways for this program, I still find myself facing harsh realities daily.  (How do you cope with a 5^th grader who can’t read?  Gang members?  Bullying?)  My students may not always love me, but they need me and in many ways, I need them too.  The life of service may not be the path for everyone, but it was the perfect choice for me.

Two unforgettable months as a Chicago sports reporter

Daniel Shore graduated in May ‘09 with degrees in Electronic Media and Psychology.  He moved to Chicago, and with the help of some Bradley connections, was hired to serve two months as an intern under Bruce Levine, the baseball reporter for ESPN Radio AM 1000 in Chicago.  See his story below.

Wake up.  There could only be one thing to do: check the newspapers online.  White Sox and Cubs.  Articles and blogs. General sports news, too.  Then check ESPN.com, the team websites, Twitter, and a few select reporters.  Brush my teeth.  Gather my recording equipment and laptop.  Grab food and head to the ball park.

Get to ballpark four hours before the game.  Sign in and flash press-pass credential.  Head up to the press box, set up the equipment, head down to the locker room.  Wait.  Wait.  Record player(s) talking.  Make mental notes of good quotes.  Sit in dugout.  Wait.  Record.  Back to the press box.  Send audio to studio.  Watch game, keep scorecard.  Head down, wait, record press conference, mental notes, wait, post-game interviews, up, send, done.  See everyone tomorrow.

That was my schedule for nearly two months, while I was living a dream through my internship with ESPN Radio in Chicago.  The description above does not do justice to the invaluable experience that the internship was, nor does it accentuate any of the highlights and great moments from the 35 baseball games I helped cover.  But I think it’s a captivating beginning.

Every day was a rush complemented by hard work and good laughs.

The rush came from the opportunity to hold the ESPN Radio microphone while players and managers spoke.  It came from getting to watch the games from the press box.  A few times, I was fortunate enough to get my adrenaline pumping by conducting a one-on-one interview with a player! Simply the fact that I was doing a hands-on, in-the-field internship in a major media market brought excitement to each day.

It certainly wasn’t easy though.  The hard work started each day as I did my daily pre-game research before leaving my apartment.  Once I was at the ball park it was all about time management and responsibility.  First and foremost, I had to ensure that I didn’t miss a player or manager talking.  Then it was up to me to select the audio clips I sent back to the station for use in news stories and updates. I had to be certain that all newsworthy items were being transmitted.  Sometimes the equipment wasn’t working right or I was doing something wrong. That’s when the pressure would build, but I persevered and learned from my mistakes.

My other duties included writing articles, doing in-game updates, and recording pre- and post-game recaps (aka “wraps”).  Nothing was more valuable than having a professional reporter read or listen to my work and give me constructive criticism.  That’s where the real learning was taking place.

And then there were the good laughs - with the other characters in the press box, the players joking around, or a light-hearted discussion about life with my mentor, Bruce Levine.  It was a job, but it was also a continuous life lesson.  If I had only showed up, done my job, and gone home each day then the experience would not have been comprehensive or complete.  I was learning every moment, from everyone and everything around me.

For those two unforgettable months, I took what I had learned at Bradley and successfully immersed myself in the world of being a Chicago sports reporter.