Jailyn Boseman, Early Childhood Education major, at Delaware State University
Education has always been close to home for me. My mother has owned a childcare center for 17 years, and I’ve worked there with children from ages 3 to 5. Being able to watch children grow—from learning to identify letters to writing their own names and eventually graduating from the center—showed me how meaningful early child education can be.
By my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to make it my career. I joined my school’s education pathway and had the opportunity to intern at an elementary school. I still remember one young student who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me when I arrived. I learned to give him space while still finding ways to connect.
One day, while I was working with another child, he came over and joined us. I kept showing up and sitting near him. By the end of my internship, the same child who didn’t want me around was sad to see me leave. Watching that relationship change helped confirm that early childhood education was where I belonged.
Today, I’m a third-year early childhood major at Delaware State University. But when I arrived on campus, I noticed something was missing: We didn’t have an organization bringing future educators together.
A friend involved with our Delaware State Education Association encouraged me to join its NEA Aspiring Educators (AE) program. I became involved at the state level and eventually helped start an Aspiring Ed chapter on my campus, where I now serve as president.
This community matters. Our teacher-preparation courses give us the academic foundation we need, but Aspiring Ed gives us another kind of preparation. We can learn from people who are student teaching, connect with educators beyond our campus, and better understand what it will be like to enter the profession.
We’ve also built our chapter around service. We’ve organized a Thanksgiving food drive, read to children at elementary schools, and held a trunk-or-treat with my mother’s childcare center that brought about 40 children.
For me, the value of our AE program is having a community before we even enter our own classrooms. Future teachers don’t have to prepare for this profession by themselves. Through the association, we can build relationships, find resources, and learn from people already doing the work.
College is preparing me to become a teacher. Being part of AE is helping me become part of the profession.
