Undergraduate Program Students and Alumni Spotlights

Meet Alumni

Mary Reynolds

Mary Reynolds
Class of 2021, Music and Education major

I've wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, and at Tufts I have the opportunity to delve into education from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. The Education department bolsters its classes with important and interesting literature and works to include experience in real schools in its curriculum. My classes in the education department have also included many different perspectives on educational issues not only from our readings, but from different professors and guest lecturers, that have caused me to think differently about my approach to education. After Tufts, I plan to go to grad school for music education, after which I will hopefully be a public school music teacher. Without the opportunity to study music in my own traditional public school, I would have never had the resources to become a musician, and I hope to help foster music programs that provide students like me with the opportunity to create music themselves!

Anna Rodriguez

Anna Rodriguez (contact me)
BA 2018 in Community Health and Education

During my time at Tufts I double majored in Community Health and Education, and I could not be any happier with my decision. Choosing to major in Education as one of my majors allowed me to build a strong foundation and deep understanding about institutionalized systems at play that have affected me and my peers in ways I did not understand before. Additionally, it taught me how education does not pertain to solely teaching in the way folks tend to assume it does- it is the foundation of the overall process of learning and expanding ones knowledge. The major let me explore pedagogy and critically think about the ways the processes of learning and teaching are so interconnected that once you understand, it is tremendously difficult to overlook. Isn't that so overwhelmingly exciting? Education at Tufts allowed me to not only solidify my thoughts/belief/values, and overall understanding of my position in the world, but it also gave me the opportunity to gain the skills allowing me to challenge and disrupt toxic systems like racism and existing structures that prevent marginalized folks in America and beyond to disrupt.

Lastly, majoring in Education guided me to discover my passion of wanting to work in Higher Education. Currently, I am a Student Success Advisor for the Office for Student Success and Advising at Tufts, where I advise incoming first- and second years, as well as work with the general undergraduate first-generation student population.

Abriana Mayer

Abriana Mayer (contact me)
BA 2018 in Education and English, minor in Child Study and Human Development
MAT in Secondary English, Brown University 2019

When I was choosing courses during my first year at Tufts, I stumbled upon a promotional video for Professor Linda Beardsley's "The Role of 'Story' in Education" course and decided to take it on a whim. I fell in love with the interdisciplinary nature of the class and the social justice perspective that was embedded in my coursework. The rest is history! I spent the next five semesters taking classes that covered everything from curriculum development to methodology to examining racial and economic inequities in the United States. In my senior year, I even had the opportunity to conduct my own research in a Senior Honors Thesis on sex education curricula and philosophies, where Professor Beardsley was my thesis advisor.

In 2018, I graduated from Tufts with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Education and Egnlish and a minor in Child Development; then in 2019 I earned  my Master of Arts in Teaching from Borwn University. Since the Fall of 2020, I have been a dorm parent and English teacher at the Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Every day brings new energy, challenges and laughter. I could not imagine doing anything else!

Andrew Tegeler

Andrew Tegeler (contact me)
BA 2018 in Political Science, Education minor

When I started at Tufts in 2014, I had no clue what I was going to study. I took a wide variety of classes and imagined myself in many different careers after I graduated. During my Junior year I enrolled in my first education class, School and Society with Prof. Cohen, and I knew from the first week that I had found a path of study that I was passionate about. The education department has given me a wide variety of opportunities to pursue the study of education. My classes have allowed me to reflect on my own schooling experiences, consider the role and history of education in Boston and nationwide, and become an advocate for equity in education. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to work as an intern in a public high school, observe classrooms in schools around Boston, and hear from many educators who visited my classes as guest lecturers. The professors I have had in my education classes are some of the most passionate, helpful, and caring people I have learned from. In August of 2018, I will begin a position as an Apprentice Teacher at the Park School in Brookline, MA. I will be an assistant in a fourth-grade classroom, a middle school volleyball coach, and benefit from the guidance of a mentor teacher. The education department at Tufts has prepared me for this position, and for my future career in Education.