From Dual Enrollment to Teaching Fellow: Tatiana Ellis's Journey Through AU's Baker School of Education
Growing up in Washington, DC, Ellis always envisioned herself as a middle school math teacher. That aspiration led her to an opportunity most high school students never get: as a DC high school senior, she enrolled in two courses at AU through the university's dual enrollment program — becoming the only student from her school taking college classes at the time.
Figuratively, it felt like I had so many people holding me up and making me aware of all of the greatness that I held. I took so much pride in the fact that I was a high school student enrolled in college classes, and striving.
That experience opened a door. Ellis went on to earn a spot as an AU Teaching Fellow, receiving a full scholarship to pursue her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education at the Baker School of Education — a distinction she carries with gratitude. "I carry this title with so much responsibility and pride," she says, "not only because of the educational freedom it's given me, but also the knowledge and support I've been provided along the way."
Throughout her four years, Ellis has been shaped by a community of faculty who believed in her. She speaks warmly of Director of Undergraduate Programs Ocheze Joseph, Senior Professorial Lecturer Toks Fashola, and Undergraduate Advisor Jody Hagen-Smith, calling them people she holds "near and dear" to her heart. "Without them, this experience wouldn't be," she says. She also credits Senior Professorial Lecturer Andrea Guiden Pittman as a professor who pushed her thinking in new ways. "She pushes critical thinking like no other. She is absolutely incredible."
The most transformative part of Ellis's experience, though, came during her senior year through her student teaching placement. Required to be in a classroom five days a week — teaching half the day, and at one point taking over all instruction for two weeks — she found herself putting three years of coursework into practice for the first time. "Everything before this was pretty much theoretical," she says, "but this was my opportunity to apply my knowledge." The experience taught her how to pivot under pressure and differentiate instruction for students at different levels. "I am a better educator because of this experience."
Ellis made a deliberate choice to complete her student teaching in schools in under-resourced DC neighborhoods. "I've always wanted to give back to the people that need the most, and are often overlooked," she says — a reflection of a commitment to equity that has only deepened during her time at AU.
This spring, Ellis graduates with her Bachelor of Arts, ready to step into the classroom as the teacher she always dreamed of becoming.