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“I hope to be a person who can inspire young children to love going to school—especially for students who believe they will never be good at math,” says Guadalupe Ceja ’23, who’s majoring in early childhood and childhood education with a concentration in math. “Or simply a person for students who need someone to give them the extra push with care and love.”

Having immigrated to the US as a child, the support and encouragement she found in her second-grade classroom helped inspire Guadalupe to pursue teaching as an adult. “I was a student in second grade who felt out of place in a new country, a new culture, and a new language,” she says. “My teachers created a safe and welcoming environment and my only hope is to create a safe, healthy, welcoming, and effective learning environment for my future students.”

“My teachers created a safe and welcoming environment and my only hope is to create a safe, healthy, welcoming, and effective learning environment for my future students.”

This upcoming year, Guadalupe plans to enter the School of Education’s 5-year program and earn an MSEd in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), but her success as a future educator is already being recognized. This year, she was named one of the winners of the , which is presented to four outstanding undergraduates who are enrolled in a Teacher Education Program in New York State. In fact, she’s only the fourth student in 91��Ƶ history to win this prestigious scholarship—something that means a lot to Guadalupe, both personally and professionally.

“This scholarship is a validation of all the challenging work I put into my studies and all the arduous work my parents have put into making sure I have the best education I can,” says Guadalupe. “I feel very honored and proud to have won this scholarship and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity.”