Fresh out of middle school and on to the awaited years of high school, 14-year-old Ms. Palacio could not wait to develop new lifelong memories and find a career path that she would love. The atmosphere of children, note-taking, and smiles hinted to Ms. Palacio a potential profession. With the help of the courses she took at Charter, Ms. Palacio was able to take subjects she enjoyed and allow herself to make the best of school.
Graduating in 2009, Ms. Palacio recalls, “My favorite memories would have to be during senior year doing all the fun stuff at the end of year like senior grad bash in Universal and prom.” Although all the school events were fun for her, Ms. Palacio wanted to understand the requirements needed to become a teacher. To match Ms. Palacio’s goal of making connections to the students around her, a very unique decision was made her senior year of taking a lifeguarding class. “We learned everything and we got certified and then we were able to get jobs in water parks,” Ms. Palacio expresses. By taking this and a few other rigorous classes, Ms. Palacio was able to gain a challenge for herself and put into perspective how college and teacher life would work for her. In addition to this course, she was able to experience a law class with Mr. Quigley, who quickly became one of her favorite teachers. She found that he made the class very interesting from the type of lectures he would give and his very outgoing personality. A memory Ms. Palacio remembers is when Mr. Quigley “taught me how to have a proper handshake and manners. That is a big impression; I would practice that when I would go to interviews and it really is a gamechanger.” As these memories still stick in her mind, it reminds Ms. Palacio to always be yourself and take each day as they come.
Once the time came for college, Ms. Palacio ended up deciding to go to Florida International University where she further wanted to expand her teaching education. Now that Ms. Palacio became sure about teaching, she already knew, as part of a plan, to learn about mental health. She easily majored in psychology where she was able to learn and get into social work. She became very hands-on and was able to do a variety of research studies involving children. Even though social work was a very intense topic and it is something that a person has to be very involved in, Ms. Palacio did not let that stop her from achieving her dreams.
After graduating from FIU, Ms. Palacio then had to decide where would be the most convenient place to teach psychology. At this point in her life, she was starting to turn from a teenager to a woman with a husband and children. Taking into consideration her family, Ms. Palacio remembered her best friend telling her how she was going to start teaching at Charter. So she thought, “My son was in the system already, so I figured him being here and me being here would make it better for me cause I can be close to him and we can all be in the same place.” As soon as she was able to grace Charter’s hallways again, but as a teacher, all the memories suddenly came back to her. At first, it was a very weird feeling for her to be back and be able to see all her old teachers, “But now, it’s nice, it feels like growth, it’s like, wow, I see you as a person, it makes you realize teachers are people too!” Ms. Palacio reveals.
Now teaching at Charter for a few years, Ms. Palacio still has that same enjoyment she got when she first became a teacher. She has been able to teach a few different classes but still under the subject of social studies. At first, she taught psychology classes in addition to a pre-AICE Global Perspectives class for freshmen. Now, she only teaches AICE psychology, regular psychology, and one World History class for sophomores. With being exposed to a few different classes and levels of teaching, Ms. Palacio states, “I love talking with my kids, I love building relationships with my kids, I love hearing their stories, and I love being a part of their stories.”
The dreams of younger Ms. Palacio have now been turned into real life. From the countless study nights to being able to have her very own classroom keys, all of Ms. Palacio’s hard work has been showcased to her students each and every day in hopes that it inspires them to go for any and all the possibilities given to them.
