With both of her older brothers having graduated from Quinnipiac, she was able to witness first-hand the power of earning a Quinnipiac degree.

“I felt connected to and supported by everyone at Quinnipiac, including all of the faculty," said Powers. “The small class sizes allowed me to make personal connections with not only my peers but also all of my professors.”

Finding her passion for teaching at a young age from teachers who inspired her, Powers wanted to follow in their footsteps and help students have a positive attitude toward education, she said.

“I have always had a passion to help others, especially children,” said Powers. “My sense of purpose in life comes from pouring myself into others and helping others succeed. I gained an understanding of how invaluable education is and how life-changing it can be.”

In the program, Powers gained the tools and information she would need to be well-prepared to launch her career. 

“From advisers who meet with you each semester and make sure you’re supported and on the right track to mock interviews that allowed us to interview with real school administrators from the area, I graduated from the program feeling more than confident to begin my teaching career,” said Powers.

Outside of her work, Powers has served as a peer mentor for students with autism and has done extensive service projects as part of the Dominican Republic Mission Team, a non-profit organization founded by her parents in 1990.

In her fifth-grade classroom in Meriden, Connecticut, Powers has implemented many of the lessons she learned during her time at Quinnipiac.

“As an educator, we are constantly tasked with making decisions and altering our plans to meet the needs of our students,” said Powers. “At Quinnipiac, we spent time in our courses discussing potential struggles and misconceptions that could arise in our classrooms and coming up with different solutions. This has been an invaluable tool in my career and has helped me to be successful.”

For those interested in pursuing a career in education, Powers says it’s a career like no other.

“It is so rewarding to work with students of all different backgrounds and abilities and play such a large role in their education and future,” said Powers. “Every single day I go to work knowing I am making a difference in the lives of my students and feel an indescribable sense of purpose. I can still remember every single one of my teachers and the impact they made on me and I hope my students look back and feel the same way."