I was standing in a classroom with multiple crazed seventh graders. The chattering of constant questions, their eyes hungry for learning, the math packet they were anxiously flipping through. I paused there, in the midst of chaos, waiting for them to calm down. I turned to the white board behind me, uncapped my marker, and copied down “|2x - 4| = 7” from the book. When I finished each of the steps, I guided them through their piled on questions, one-by-one with ease. Their shoulders relaxed and their faces formed into smiles; I knew they were ready. “There’s no need to worry about the test tomorrow,” I assured them.

During my student internship, I have my eyes set on inspiring the students that I work with. In this past year, I’ve decided on exploring a career as a mathematics teacher. That’s why I signed up for the internship class offered at my high school. I filled out a form in what I was interested in, and I soon received my site location, Carl Sandburg Middle School. 

The second I stepped into the Algebra 1 classroom, I noticed right away the amount of authority I was about to hold. On a day where I taught a small group about exponents, they remained silent throughout the lesson, focusing on every word I had to say.

“Ms. Ristoff, could you please show me how you solved 40?” the red-headed boy asked, pointing to number five on the worksheet.

“Of course, since 4 is raised to the zeroth power, this means it’s going to equal 1. And this goes for any other base as well according to the zero-exponent rule,” I explained.

“You’re really smart,” he told me.

 I giggled, “Don’t worry, if you take the time and effort to challenge yourself, you’ll be as smart as me when you get to high school.”

It’s that great smile that crosses their face. It’s that beam of light in their eyes. That’s what I loved to see. From my internship, I’ve learned how to communicate with younger students, teach them passionately about math, and inspire them to continue their growth. They were truly motivated to learn by just seeing a high school student willing to take every opportunity to share her passion with them. I wanted to be their leader, and I want to continue being a leader.