Amanda Naylor

Hometown:

Glastonbury, CT

What I was doing before RWU: 

I attended RWU for undergrad and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. 

My future plans:

Once graduating RWU and obtaining my master’s in special education, I hope to become a special educator teacher working with elementary students. 

My favorite parts of my student experience at RWU: 

One of the best experiences to date that I experienced at RWU was my student teaching experience during the Spring 2022 semester. I did my student teaching experience in 3rd grade at Pell Elementary School in Newport, RI and I learned so much over the course of the year. It was so great to see myself grow as an educator and a very rewarding experience to work with the students I was fortunate to have in my classroom. Those third-grade students I was fortunate enough to teach are ones that I will never forget, and I will cherish those experiences I had with them for the rest of my life. At RWU, I have also been on the Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field teams and this has been another favorite experience here. I am so fortunate to have created life-long friendships with my teammates over the four years. Running in college was the best decision I made four years ago, and I am excited for the opportunity to run for one more year here at RWU during my graduate year! 

Best advice for students planning to go to graduate school: 

My best advice for students planning to go to graduate school is to ensure that you are staying on top of your work. With the workload being a bit more intense in graduate school, it is important to get into a good routine and schedule to get your work done. This strategy has really helped me so far in this program to ensure that I am staying on top of all my assignments. It definitely is a learning process at first, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the classes I have taken so far and I know they will prepare me well for my future career as a special educator. I also believe it is very important to find a good balance between the academic side of grad school and the social side. I feel that having this healthy balance is definitely something that has helped me a lot so far in grad school! 

Favorite things to do in the area: 

I could list so many favorite things that I love to do around here! Being a runner, I always love to go for a run at Colt State park here in Bristol! It is such a pretty place to run at and it is always a good way for me to clear my head after a stressful day. This has also been a great way for me to take breaks from my work during my time here at RWU. I also really enjoy getting bagels from Bristol Bagels and grabbing a delicious vanilla latte from Empire! Lastly, I also really enjoy traveling to Newport occasionally with my sister (who also goes to RWU!) since it is not too far from Bristol.