Class of 2025: Paul Steinert

I was excited about all the new opportunities ahead of me, but nervous about deciding the pathway I was going to shape for myself.

Someone who has grown so much over the past four years. I have become a man who is incredibly confident in my abilities as a teacher, actor, and as a person.

I started all of my off-campus experiences in my sophomore year with a theatre trip I was nominated for, as well as my first practicum placement. With my Elementary Education major, I have been inside of four separate Carroll County public schools, staying in my senior year placement for an entire year for the practicum and full-time internship. My favorite experience was my Teaching Internship in a Diverse Setting for January Term of my junior year, where I got to intern for three weeks in my old elementary school with my third grade math teacher. It quadrupled my passion for teaching when I revisited my school. My passion for teaching continuously increased with each placement.

My big ‘aha’ moment on the Hill was learning how to handle many time commitments. With teaching, being an Honor and Conduct Board member, being an Admissions ambassador, performing in the Dangersauce improv troupe, performing in theatre and music as well as being the vice president for two honor societies, handling so many events and schedules took a lot of time to find that rhythm. And I am still finding new ways to help myself manage time. The me who came into McDaniel four years ago would be surprised with my schedules and calendars now, and my ability to manage all of it.

I hope that I leave a positive and bright mark on the Hill. I tried to keep a very optimistic view of my journey and my treatment of others around campus, and I hope I left my McDaniel experience with people smiling and feeling encouraged.

Senior Lecturer Kyle Engler shaped me into the musician I am today. I had a strong passion for music but was not the most confident, and through her feedback and encouragement, I am incredibly proud of how much I have improved and feel more confident as a singer. Professor Becca Gibson has immensely impacted my teaching journey. I was thrilled to start teaching my lessons inside a classroom but had some apprehension about teaching English Language Arts (ELA), as I have a strong preference for mathematics. Through all of her classes since sophomore year, I feel tremendously assured in my capabilities of teaching ELA moving forward and am more confident in my writing ability since entering McDaniel.

My passions that I have explored at McDaniel are teaching and theatre (as well as music). I loved the A Cappella Ensemble class with Kyle Engler. We have performed some wonderfully beautiful pieces that were very difficult to learn, but Kyle made it an easier process than I have ever been involved in compared to other music experiences. 

My favorite Theatre class was my First-Year Seminar, Acting on Stage and Off, with Professor Emerita Elizabeth van den Berg. That class was my first acting class in college, and I was petrified, but her feedback has propelled me as an actor, and I thank her for that experience. 

I have had plenty of Elementary Education classes that have molded me as an educator, but my favorite class was Creating Inclusive Classrooms with Lecturer Michelle Concepcion. While my other classes had instructional and content-based focuses, this class enabled me to explore different cultures inside the classroom and the diversity that is inside of every classroom, as well as the individualistic view of every student being unique. I have integrated so many techniques and skills from this class in my classrooms and expect to integrate more as I move forward.

I have done a lot at McDaniel. I am the vice president of Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre honors society. I joined at the end of my first year. It is a wonderful organization that promotes theatre and helped me find my McDaniel family. I am also the vice president of Beta Alpha Chi, the music honors society, which promotes music around campus and the community of Westminster. 

Through theatre and music, I have been a part of every single show here at the theatre. I have done our first-year skit, “Choices,” all three times, assistant stage managed three shows, light board operated one show, and acted in the remaining 12 shows. For music, I have performed in several College Choir concerts and a cappella concerts. During my senior year, I joined Dangersauce improv troupe, which has been a very fun experience. 

I have also been an Honor and Conduct Board member since the beginning of my sophomore year and an Admissions ambassador since the end of my sophomore year. I love giving tours to potential new students and working on all of the events on campus. I could talk about McDaniel nonstop. Last but certainly not least, I was selected during my senior year fall teaching placement to be a recipient of the Teacher Collaborative Undergraduate Fellowship. It was a paid grant that allowed me to go into the classroom for an additional day in my placement and it especially helped me with my lesson planning and implementation.

What took me by surprise was meeting so many different people from all over the U.S and even outside of the country. Going from elementary to high school in the same little area, I knew the same people for most of my life. Coming here and not knowing many people, making new connections that will last me a lifetime, surprised me. I did not think I could build this many connections in only four years.

The gazebo by Blanche and Whiteford is a very pretty spot on campus where I like to sit when it is nighttime and the fairy lights are on. It is very calming and reassuring that things will be OK when things get stressful or overwhelming.

All the different perspectives of my classmates and professors that I have learned. So many new ways of life that I have slight exposure to now have opened my eyes to what the world offers wherever life takes me.

“Subtracting 10s and Adding Double-Digits: Mathematics Learning Segment.”

My capstone is part of my internship in my elementary school placement. Before going into a four-week full-time teaching period, my capstone gives me a 10-lesson window to instruct mathematics. My 10 lessons are split between subtracting by 10s and adding two-digit numbers to one-digit numbers in my first grade classroom.

After graduation, I will be teaching in an elementary school classroom. I am excited for where my teaching journey will take me, whether it is back home to Baltimore County, here in Carroll County, or anywhere else within Maryland (or possibly out of state). I want to be inside a classroom as soon as possible and become a first-year teacher, eventually continuing for life.

I want to come back and see my friends on campus when time permits, and I want to come back and see the theatrical and musical performances on campus.

I have had a lot of family members who attended college but did not complete their time at school and did not get their degree, so my college experience feels like a proud moment to prove that all my dedication and effort has been worth it moving forward in my professional journey.