TEACH Impact Story: Krysta

“Working in the ECE field was never part of my plan. I have a B.A. in Psychology and I was going to get my M.A in Counseling. The opportunity for a job as a lead teacher at my center kind of fell into my lap. And I fell in love. After two years, I finally began taking classes to obtain an M.A. I completed 5 classes and realized as much as I wanted to become a counselor, I had no interest in leaving my school. My director discussed the option of taking classes to become a director myself, as there would be a position potentially opening in the future. I made the decision to stop pursuing my M.A. to go on this new path. It was a difficult choice because I had to take out loans to pay for the portion I already completed. I applied for the TEACH scholarship, hopeful that I would receive some help to pay for my change in plans. Between needing to buy a new car, moving, and COVID-19, money was tight. Despite these, I was able to start and finish all 9 of my needed classes in one year. As a result of taking these classes, I was promoted to administrative assistant. Now that I have finished everything, I am waiting to receive my certificate, and once that arrives, I will be officially promoted to director at my center. The money from the TEACH scholarship helped me to achieve my goals in a way that I would not have been able to without it.”

– Krysta S, TEACH Scholar