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My name is Grace. I graduated with a degree in early childhood education in 2023, and I'm the day camp director at Sherman Lake YMCA Outdoor Center.

It is a summer camp here in Augusta, Michigan, that has a resident and day camp.

Sherman Lake is special because it not only helps the kids to grow and learn who they are as a person, but it helps the counselors and the staff.

I oversee daily activities for the campers and staff. I monitor and make sure the staff are holding up to the expectations we have here.

My role as a day camp director is different than being a camp counselor because I see the behind the scenes now. When I was a counselor, I didn't see much of what happened and how the things that were happening happened. And now I'm in charge of those decisions and what happens next.

I'm learning a lot of lessons here that are going to help me in the classroom. The biggest one I think, is flexibility. I'm learning that things don't always go the way you plan. And so you need to have a backup plan to help make sure things can run smoothly.

I chose to be an early childhood student 51¸£ÀûÉç because as a kid I always adored my teachers. I always liked going to school and that sense of stability. So when I got older, I started to realize that I really did love being with kids and teaching others.

Western Michigan has made a positive mark on me. As an educator, I always feel like I have support and I could always ask my professor for a quick email to kind of ask them what to do next because they supported me the whole way through graduation.

The TRO Future Educator Success Program (FESP)is a government funded program that helps education students if they are a first generation college student, disabled or low income. They helped me pick my classes and keep track of my assignments. And a couple of years later into the program, I started to become a tutor and mentee. 

Students should join because there's a strong mentorship in the program. There's a lot of people in that office that are ready to help you. So whether you're feeling lost or whether you're not quite sure how to get around 51¸£ÀûÉç, they're there to help you and help you get to the path that you want to get to.