Sophomore Kirsten Hedrick, Illinois Beta-Delta, came to Knox College intending on studying medicine. She knew it was a highly respected profession and wanted to be “successful” in the minds of other people. However, after her first semester, Kirsten felt it was not something she wanted to pursue. Fortunately, she realized quickly where she wanted to shift her focus.

Growing up in Byron, Illinois, all the adults in her life, including her mom and neighbors, were teachers. These role models had a passion for education and learning as well as a desire to help children, which carried over to Kirsten. “At four years old, I wrote all the words I knew and asked my mom to write ‘the rest’,” Kirsten said. I questioned what she meant by “the rest” and she clarified “all the other words.” We laughed imagining what her mother must have thought when to receive quite the request from her daughter, but it showed Kirsten’s love of learning at such a young age. She is now studying Elementary Education and Anthropology and Sociology.

Kirsten chose Anthropology and Sociology to grow her understanding in the topics of diversity and social justice. Last semester during “Introduction to Culture and Society” she was “introduced to a wide range of human societies and cultural forms throughout the world … understanding the global connections that link one society to another.” One of her assignments was reading a book about undocumented immigrants and their lives. It is an applicable subject, especially in the current climate of our nation, and it gives her a better ability to be able to talk about differences between groups in the future.

“I wanted more information to better teach students who would be from different backgrounds,” Kirsten said. Her intention is to teach in urban area in the future and these topics are important for teaching in the diverse world we live in.