Hello there,
My name is Madelyn Bowling-Garcia. I am a born and raised Colorado native, who grew up in Longmont, CO. I am a first generation student currently studying Early Childhood Education at Colorado State University. In my program, I have and will continue to gain a personal, hands-on experience of working with children, prekindergarten through third grade, in the Poudre School District. At the conclusion of the program, I will earn my Colorado teaching license, when I graduate in the spring of 2027.
In my own experiences growing up, I have always gravitated towards teaching roles in the environment I am in. In elementary school, I participated in student council in second and third grade. In middle school, I was one of few students nominated to trial the newly introduced mentorship program in my eighth grade year. That year, I was assigned a sixth grade mentee who had been identified as an individual that needed help. I met with my mentee around two times a week during homeroom, to help with homework, organizing her binder, drafting emails or meeting with teachers, and offering first-hand advice. In both middle and high school, I was part of the freshman and new student orientation club for the school. For my club in high school, I was an orientation leader my junior year, and I was one of the senior presidents that led the club my senior year. Not only was I responsible for my own group of freshmen, but I was also in charge of communicating with my other senior mentors and mentor teachers about upcoming meetings, teaching new leaders how to handle student conflict or low interest, and recruiting junior mentors and appointing senior mentors for the following year.
In my work experience and spare time, I have been a personal trainer at the fast food restaurant I worked in and the dental office I currently work at now. In high school, I was a volunteer softball coach for my towns' 12 and under youth girls recreational softball team. I got to teach young girls the skills for the sport that taught me the importance of communication, teamwork, perseverance, problem solving, grit, and humility.
During my time at Colorado State, while I have not had the opportunity to fulfill a leadership role- yet, I have been gracefully given the opportunity to volunteer at the Poudre School District for classes in my program. In these opportunities, I have worked with children to advance their math and literacy education.
Day by day, my love for education grows more. I am eagerly awaiting the day I get to welcome my own set of students into my classroom for the very first time.