My name is Andrea Buchanan, and I live in Sioux Falls, SD. I grew up in a small, rural town east of the Missouri river; my elementary class had only 23 people. I was eager for adventure after graduation however, and moved to Chicago to study English literature at North Park University. After college I rode my bike across the country for charity, and spent time at a village school in India. The question “what are you going to do with your life?” kept nagging me. Soon after I returned from India, I began to aggressively pursue that question; I knew I needed to find a career I could be passionate about.
I needed to be near my family in South Dakota and also return to school. There were no local programs to compare with the MAT @ USC. I was thrilled when I learned I could complete the program and not relocate. Because of my travels in India and my time in both Chicago and South Dakota, I have a strong interest in both urban and tribal education. The classes at USC have nurtured those interests and given me strong pedagogical tools which should allow me to begin my teaching career with confidence.
Spending time in a classroom during every term of this course has been invaluable. Observing and researching teaching practices from the beginning, networking with fellow students, and meeting the challenges of the courses has made this an intensive growth period. I plan on working either within the Chicago Public School system or at a tribal school on a Dakota reservation. Not every school could prepare a teacher for both, but I feel confident the MAT @ USC has done just that. Fight On!
If you’d like to know more about how MAT@USC can prepare you to take your South Dakota teaching certificate and make a difference in your community, contact our Admissions office at 888.MAT.1USC or email us at matadmit@usc.edu.
