My name is Ashley Wanner, I am majoring in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and minoring in Special Education at the University of Mary. There are a variety of reasons why I wanted to become a teacher, but the main two are because my mom is a teacher and it is so inspiring to see her change lives of students every day. The other reason is when I became a coach. Seeing the child’s face when they finally mastered something is the most rewarding thing for me being a coach. Not giving up on them along with the child not giving up on themselves is the greatest gift of that job. Knowing that they can do anything they put their mind to and to feel proud of themselves for doing so.
Besides coaching volleyball and basketball, I do love to be outside as much as I can. Whether that be fishing, sand volleyball, camping, hiking, or just going on a bike ride, anything to be outside. I love to go shopping or to just sit and watch a good movie. I also love to do these things with my family and friends, they are my rock and push me to do my best every day. I also have a dog named Bailee who is 7 years old, she is a little pile of energy and I love her to death.
When I first came to the University of Mary, I wanted to be Physical Therapist. After shadowing one and I started to coach, I realized that I wanted to work with kids. So I changed my major to Speech Pathology, but realized there was still something missing. I decided to shadow my mom who is a second grade teacher and fell in love with it. I want to be the teacher whose classroom is a place where kids can step out of their comfort zone and try new things even though that might be scary. I want my students to do something and be able to say that they did it because I inspired them or pushed them to do their best and take a risk. That they are not scared to make mistakes because failing at something is a good thing and means that you're trying.