Keeping it in the Community

Rebekah TenHove and Emily Nussbaum are sisters who grew up in Didsbury, Alberta.

There’s a four year age gap between them.  

That means they were never quite at the same place in life at the same time; when Emily was in Kindergarten, Rebekah was in Grade Four. They didn’t go to junior high together, nor were they in high school at the same time.

Today they live in two different places, and they lead two very different lives, but the one thing they share is that both have wanted to be teachers for a long, long time.

And now, for the first time, they find themselves in the same school, at the same time, in the same class.

Rebekah, a married mom with a young son, lives in Lacombe and is expecting her second child later this fall.

Working as an Educational Assistant (EA), Rebekah found herself thinking about how she might be able to earn her BEd degree, so that she could become a teacher.  At this point in her life, she didn’t think it could happen.

Just over a hundred kilometers to the south in their hometown, Emily also works as an EA, in the school they both attended as children. Although Emily earned a Social Work diploma, her work in schools only reinforced her desire to teach.

Neither sister could imagine how they could fulfill their dreams of becoming teachers.

That is, until they heard about a unique community-based program at the University of Calgary from a friend of their mother’s— someone who had already enrolled in the program in the Werklund School of Education.

They both applied, and were accepted into the program to begin their studies in the summer of 2016.

While most of the program is taken online and in the community, the first step in the program is for the students to spend two weeks on campus, meeting their classmates and their instructors.

The sisters agreed that this is the perfect way to start the program.

“I feel so much more confident having had a chance to meet face to face with my professors and my classmates,” says Rebekah.  “I was also so impressed with the support that was offered to all of us from the faculty.”

“I was surprised by how quickly we all bonded and were able to support each other in our course,” says Emily.  “Having the opportunity to meet our classmates and the faculty before starting the online portion of the program allowed us to put faces to names and also build relationships with each other, which will help us continue to support each other while we’re completing the online portions despite the fact that we may live hours apart.”

Both also agree that the flexibility of the program is what drew them to it.

Emily, who wants to stay in her hometown, says, “A lot of my family and friends are here, and I also wanted to continue working at the elementary school I currently work at and love.”

And for Rebekah, the young mother says the key is the ability to complete her studies at home without having to worry about having to choose between being a full-time student and a full-time wife and mom.

“The benefits are definitely the flexibility, however another huge benefit is that while you are doing your schooling you are able to stay involved in your community, explains Rebekah.  “I love that I can do my practicums at the schools that I one day hope to get a job at.”