You Can’t Miss Out on What’s Meant For You: And Other Lessons from Student Teaching

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April 21, 2022 I received an email that I would be completing my student teaching internship at Northwestern Senior High School. Exactly one year later, I’m ending my journey as a student teacher with a grateful heart and a whole lot to be thankful for. 




Words can’t even begin to express how honored I am to have met and worked with the amazing students at Northwestern and for having the best cooperating teacher I could have asked for. What a bittersweet ending to a great 15 weeks.


But getting here hasn’t been easy. Student teaching had its fair share of ups and downs, but it was all worth it in the end. I often think about what I would tell myself if I could go back and do it all over again, and this is what I came up with.


  • You can’t miss out on what’s meant for you: Everything happens for a reason, even if you don’t know the reason yet.
  • Make everyday count: As a teacher, how you chose to show up each day matters. Make the most of every day, because it will go by faster than you think!
  • Good things take time: Finding a cooperating center is only half the fun, growing a relationship with your students and your cooperating teacher is one of the best things about your site. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen right away.
  • Plan ahead: This goes without saying, but it’s true. Even when you think you’re planned far enough in advance, plan some more. Front load what you can in the beginning to make it easier on yourself in the end. 
  • Don’t sweat the small stuff: If you spend time planning an activity that didn’t go well or you didn’t get to it, just let it go and keep moving. You can always use it next year or share it with someone else.
  • Make time for what matters: Student teaching is a lot, everyday, all at once. Make sure you make time for the people that matter in your life outside of school, and most importantly, yourself.
  • Don’t eat the parmesan cheese: If you know, you know.


Even though I could go on and on, I truly did learn a lot about myself throughout student teaching. I started out shy and not really sure if I could get through it, but as the days went on, I started to believe in myself to become the teacher I wanted to be. 





Each day of student teaching brought on new joys and challenges. I would like to highlight some of my best moments from the last 15 weeks.


  • ACES: When one of my students and I totally crushed Finish the Lyrics in front of the entire ACES crowd. 
  • The "Cup of Skin" day in Small Animal Science: The day my students in that class bought into me and then we all started having a good time. 
  • The Spuds and Suds Meeting: My first FFA meeting with Albion FFA in which I got to meet parents and build relationships with students.
  • The Milk Lab day in Agriscience Applications: The students loved trying to determine all of the milk defects!
  • Playing with Mr. Honeycutt’s sheep: Need I say more?
  • Going back to Penn State for internship seminars: It’s always fun to see my cohort members again and see how everyone is doing - especially when we were all going through the same joys and struggles.




I would like to thank some of the people that got me here today:

  • My Cooperating Teacher: Mr. Anthony Honeycutt
  • The Pennsylvania State University: The faculty and staff that works day in and day out to make sure their candidates are successful
  • Northwestern Senior High School: The faculty, staff, and all of the great students I had the pleasure of working with
  • My University Supervisor: Dr. Carson Letot
  • My Colleague: Ms. Morgan Bear
So, where to next? Well…I’m not sure, and that’s okay. I’m still looking and applying for schools in Pennsylvania to become their agriculture teacher in the fall, and hopefully I find the right opportunity soon. 





“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”



Thank you for your endless support, 


Ms. Cusate

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