Sarah was a 3rd Grade Teacher for Sunset View Elementary during Fall 2025.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
This year I have been able to dive into what I have learned at BYU and put my learning into practice. As a third grade intern, I have been able to organize and set up my classroom, my own classroom management, what I want my class routines to look like. Aside from all of this, however, this experience has taught me more about what it means to be a Christ-like educator and person. Everyday I have the opportunity to work with people with different backgrounds, personalities, strengths and weaknesses. One of my biggest surprises was that I began the year I had 8 ML students. It has been fun to work with a diverse group and learn how to help them find success in their learning. Overall, I have loved working with my students and their families! It has been awesome to dive into becoming a teacher as a student at BYU.
What did you learn on your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
I didn't expect my internship opportunity to make me a better person outside of school and work. It sounds cliche, but everyday you see students and families living in circumstances that are very different from one another. It is wonderful to see other kids helping each other, making new friends with a new student, finding ways to play with a non-verbal student at recess, families being provided Christmas gifts and weekend lunches. For every tough day and moment, there is something equally as good to be found everyday. I often think about my students and they really do inspire me to be better.
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
I want to keep teaching! I really wasn't sure if I would stick with teaching as a career and now that I have gotten the hang of how things are done, it only makes sense to keep working on the dream that I have had for so long. If I would have student taught, I don't know if I would have had the same confidence to stick with it.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
In the scriptures, we are invited to be as children. If you walked into a classroom you might laugh looking at all the silly things they do. When you come to know them, however, you really get to see all the ways they are an example for us to learn from. One of my favorite examples of this was a day when one of my students was really getting on my nerves. She had been throwing a tantrum so I sent her out in the hallway to calm down. Immediately after, I started to introduce an activity that seat partners would work on together. The student who sat next to the other that was having a rough day was given the option to choose to go with another partnership of their choice. Instead they quietly asked if they could go into the hallway with their crying seat partner and work with them. I was taken back by the patience and love that this student exhibited. Those two are not necessarily friends on the playground, but it taught me what it really meant to love your neighbor especially when they are hard to love. They are the ones I have learned that usually need it the most.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
If you are interested in making a career out of teaching, this is, in my opinion, the best way to figure it out. You are going to have a tough first-year regardless of what you are doing. I love the idea that I am literally still a student and it has taught me the importance of being able to ask questions and to ask for help. I think I could have figured that out as a student teacher, or a first year teacher, but it comes very naturally as an intern. It really has had its ups and downs, but the students and people around you make it worth it. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to already have had a job interview, tons of experience under my belt, and confidence now that I will be applying for another job for this upcoming year. In the long run, the uphill battle at first has made the next part of the path a little less steep for me.
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding your internship?
If you are thinking about doing it and don't have a good reason not to do it, you should apply! It has been a hard but rewarding experience. I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish.
