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Applying Lessons from the Liberal Arts to Life-Long Learning
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- [00:00]
A
Hi there. It's Bill Gray from Hillsdale College. Before you skip ahead, can I ask you a question or two? If you could teach 50 million Americans one thing, what would it be? Would you teach our great American story that this nation is unique, founded on self government and individual liberty? Maybe you would teach the truth about free enterprise, how hard work and opportunity allow anyone to rise? Or would you teach the gospel and the Christian faith that helps us live good and meaningful lives? At Hillsdale College, we're doing exactly that. Teaching the best that's been thought and said. Through our free online courses, K12 programs, Imprimis, podcasts, and more, we reach and teach millions every year with the principles of liberty that make America free. And with your help, we can reach even more. Your tax deductible gift today will help us teach millions more people to pursue truth and defend liberty. Just text the word give to 718 44. You'll get a secure link to make your donation in seconds. That's give to 718 44. Thank you for standing with us. Now back to the show.
- [01:27]
B
Welcome to beyond the Bubble, a career services podcast that interviews Hillsdale alums on radio free hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Lily Fay Kramer, and today I am joined by 2020 grad Carissa Moshell. Welcome, Carissa.
- [01:41]
C
Thank you so much for having me.
- [01:43]
B
Awesome. So, to begin, can you tell me a little bit about your Hillsdale career? What did you major in? Did you participate in any clubs? Did you. Did you work on campus? What did your time at Hillsdale look like?
- [01:55]
C
So I double majored in French and history. I originally came to Hillsdale just wanting to do French, but finished that major pretty quick due to my previous French training. So decided to pick up history, which was really fun just to be able to take random classes with cool professors. As for what I did at Hillsdale, I worked for campus security, which was really fun. I did a lot of work for the admissions office. I did tours. I helped start their social media, which now is really big and really good. So I'm really happy that the admissions team has taken off the social media page. I hung out a lot with my friends, mainly in the library. Now that I think about it, the library was less of a study place and more of a hangout.
- [02:46]
B
Like in heaven or perg.
- [02:48]
C
Heaven, for sure. Okay. Like the big, you know, like the square tables. I would just go in there to talk to my friends. I don't think I did any study on studying on heaven at all. So. Super. Fun.
- [03:00]
B
What dorms were you in?
- [03:02]
C
Freshman year, I lived in Olds, which was amazing. Sophomore year, I lived in Benzing, which was also amazing. My roommate was an RA but on our hall was, like, all my best friends, which I don't know how that happened, but it was such a fun experience to just walk down to the next room and be able to see my friends. And then junior year, I lived in New dorm, which was the first year that was open, which was really fun to kind of create the culture of the dorm. And it's been nice to be back on campus because I've talked to some of the girls that live in New dorm, and toga party is still a thing. And it was really cool how the culture kind of was crafted when I was there and still stands. And then senior year, I lived off campus on Hillsdale street with three other girls.
- [03:49]
B
Okay, super fun. And then what did your summers look like?
- [03:54]
C
Let's see. One summer, I worked at a summer camp in Minnesota with my freshman year roommate, which was really fun. They have this remote island, and there's no technology, there's no water, there's no time, which is also really interesting. So every activity kind of just, like, ends when everyone's done and we got to be outside. We lived in, like, tents, and it was, like, such a cool experience. And I think that was my first experience with children on, like, a really intense level. And I think that sparked my desire to want to work with children in education. So that was really fun. And then I worked for the admissions office one summer, which was also really nice. Cause I just got to talk to a lot of people about their. Where they went to high school and what they liked about their high school and what they didn't. And that also piqued my interest in education. It made me really reflect on, like, what I loved about my K through 12 education and what I wish was different then My. Before my senior year, I worked in downtown Detroit at this company that was called Destination Services. And we basically. When companies relocate their employees to America, this company helps them get acclimated to life in the United States, which I didn't realize, actually is a really big part of my job. Currently I work with Israelis who just moved to the United States, and they're navigating, living in America for the first time. And a lot of, like, the techniques that this company used to help others, like, move to America successfully. I'm now, like, realizing I actually, like, learned from that internship. So that was a really weird job that, like, wasn't related to Education or children or anything at all. But now it plays a big part in my current role. And then my senior year was when Covid happened and campus got shut down. So I ended up working at Kroger's during the summer, which was also really interesting because I was used to having a solid work ethic and being around people who, like, want to pursue excellence. And then I was working with just random people who did not share those same values. And so it just made me really appreciate my upbringing and Hillsdale in general that, like, pursues excellence because it made me want to be in a career with people that pursued the same goals as me. Right.
- [06:34]
B
So when you graduated, what did your first few years look like? And how did you even know you wanted to go into education? Because you didn't even minor in classical ed, which is what you do now.
- [06:44]
C
So after I graduated from Hillsdale, I moved to Bloomington, Indiana, to work at Seven Oaks Classical School, which is a Hillsdale K12 school where I taught fourth grade for five years. I originally wanted to teach French, but they didn't have any French positions opening open. So the headmaster was like, you'd be amazing at fourth grade. And I was really skeptical because I had not spent a lot of time with young kids, and now my whole day was with young kids. So I was really, really nervous, and I had no idea what I was doing. And I remember, like, the first day of school, standing in front of, like, 28 kids, and it, like, it hit me of, like, the importance of this job. Like, not only am I gonna be teaching them how to add numbers, but I'm stewarding their souls. I'm teaching them how to love beautiful things, to relate to one another, to relate to the world. And I, like, looked at these kids, and I was like, oh, my gosh, what a responsibility. And that's when it really hit me how important education really is. I found the school through the classical school job fair and interviewed and just really fell in love with the school's mission, and that's what brought me there. But then once I started teaching is when I really fell in love with classical education. And just, like, teaching in general, like, I genuinely feel. It's, like, what I was made to do. I feel so alive in front of a classroom. I love reading stories with kids and hearing their ideas. I love teaching them history. I really love teaching them science. I, like, did not particularly love science, but it ended up being one of my favorite times of the day just because we really got to wonder at the world. The kids had so Many questions. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I would have never thought of that. That's like an amazing thought or amazing prediction. And I got to do a lot of experiments with them, and it was just so fun. For example, the first couple years at the school, the Hillsdale K12 office didn't have, like, a robust science curriculum. So it was kind of just random subjects. And I had to teach a month and a half on soil, which sounds like the most boring thing ever. It ended up being the best month and a half of science. We did so many cool experiments. We went on so many cool hikes. We made a compost bucket and started. And it was just. The kids loved it. And that was my first fourth grade class. And right before I left, so many of them were in eighth grade and came back to me and were like, do you remember that time we went on that hike? Do you remember that butterfly that we saw on that hike from four years ago? And it was just so cool that I was planting seeds of beauty in these students. And it wasn't until four years later that they really realized the importance of going outside and just enjoying the beauty of nature. And it's just amazing to me how education works so slowly to slowly transform our souls. And that's my favorite part of working in a K12 school is you really get to see how seeds are planted young and it takes so many years for them to grow.
- [10:04]
B
Wow. So would you say that was a major turning point, your whole unit section on soil?
- [10:10]
C
Yeah. Yeah. Literally everything I taught was a major turning point. Like, I ended up loving. I love math. I find math so fascinating now after having taught Singapore math and just like teaching kids how to multiply and divide, I learned so much. Another thing that I fell in love with is the English language. I love French, but. But now I feel like I like English a little bit more just because English is such a big melting pot of all these different languages and rules. And it's actually easy to understand once you know the rules of the English language. And a lot of classical schools use phonics approach, use etymology and morphology to teach the English language to students. And I just fallen in love and like researching root words and what they mean and how you can add prefixes and suffixes. And it's just so cool. It's like a mini puzzle that you get to solve with every English word. And I really like that.
- [11:12]
B
Awesome. And then you taught at a Christian classical school.
- [11:16]
C
Charter school. Charter school, yeah.
- [11:18]
B
And now you're at a Jewish classical school. What has that done been like, in terms of curriculum, what you've learned? Similarities, differences.
- [11:27]
C
How's that been? Yeah. So I recently moved to Austin, Texas, and I now teach at Hadar Jewish Classical Academy, which is the first ever Jewish classical elementary school in the United States. They're really pioneering how Jews can actually have a really good education with the Western civilization. Most Jewish day schools have really strong Judaics or really strong academics, and none have both. And Hadar is trying to offer both to Jewish students. I find it fascinating because the students spend half their day in Hebrew immersion. So they're spending two, three hours a day being taught by native Hebrew speakers. Not only are they learning, like, the Hebrew language, they're also learning Jewish studies in Hebrew. And it's incredible what these kids can absorb. And pick up the third and fourth graders, I can walk into a room while they're learning Hebrew and they'll turn and speak English to me, but be listening to, like, the Hebrew teacher and be able to turn back and speak automatically in Hebrew to the Hebrew teacher. And it's just shocking to me because I have a hard time with doing that in French, like going from English to French. And these kids can do it so fluidly with Hebrew and English. But I think more importantly, I've seen these students become really resilient. They're open to unknown situations. They're open to not knowing something and being okay with that uncomfortability of not knowing. And I think that's something that's really spoken to me. Like, what I learned from Hillsdale is, I think the Greek word is apeoria. And it's like this state of puzzlement and wondering and being okay with the unknown. And I think growing up in public education, I wanted the answer right away. I wanted to know. And Hillsdale offered me a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. And that frustrated me at first. And now I'm seeing with these students at Hadar the. They love the unknown, they love the puzzling, and the challenge due to the fact that they are in a Hebrew class, and most of the time they probably don't know what the teacher is saying. And they also have immersive Latin at the school. And the kids, the third and fourth graders, have never had Latin before. And on the first day, the Latin teacher only spoke Latin to them. And I was sitting in on the class and. And I would think, like, the kids would be like, what are you saying? What are you saying? I don't understand. I don't understand. And, like, be frustrated with the Latin teacher. But no, the kids were, like, sitting there and they were enjoying it. And afterwards I asked them, and they're like, yeah. We didn't really know what she was saying, but it was cool and it was fun, and I liked the challenge. And I just think that is a really beautiful thing to offer children in a role now in the world. They're gonna face so many challenging situations. They're going to face so much unknown, so much frustration, and to have the mindset that a challenge is not a hindrance, but actually a way to grow, I think is really beautiful. Yeah.
- [14:44]
B
Strength rejoices in the challenge. Absolutely.
- [14:47]
C
Yeah.
- [14:48]
B
Why do you think it's so important for these kids to start learning foreign languages when they're young?
- [14:54]
C
I think it's really important because they can absorb the so much they. The minds of young people are made to memorize things. I cannot memorize things at the pace and the speed and the excellence that young kids can do. And I think exposing kids to so many languages and so many ideas when they're young opens them up to actual true mastery when they're older, because they have this background foundation, this background knowledge that they can kind of bounce off of in the later years. A lot of immersion studies show that, like, starting the kids younger in Hebrew immersion, while their English may suffer, while they may not be on the same level as, like, an English only peer, it's in middle school and high school where those skills will allow them to surpass others. And being able to read an unknown text, read something challenging like Plato or Aristotle or the great books, and be able to wrestle with those ideas because they've done that for so long, versus, like, me. When I came to Hillsdale, reading Plato for the first time, I was like, what is going on? This is so hard. And, like, getting frustrated versus these students now, they're like, I read things that I don't know all the time, and I have to figure it out.
- [16:17]
B
And that's okay if you don't know it. Oh, that's so cool. And then my final question. How would you say your liberal arts core curriculum at Hillsdale influenced your ability to pivot, teach so many different subjects as a teacher, how would you say Hillsdale prepared you for that?
- [16:35]
C
Going back to, like, that Greek term apioria, like, just being okay with the unknown and being okay with being puzzled? I think. I think back to, like, Western heritage. I had Dr. Hart for Western Heritage. He's great, but every class he would start off with two questions and then have two students answer the question. But he would never answer the questions, and it frustrated me to no end. And I would go to office hours, and I'd be like, okay, what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? I need the answer. And finally, Dr. Hart was like, that's the point. There is no concrete answer. We're all puzzling over this. We're all searching. We're all trying to understand what this all means. And I think that really prepared me well for the classroom where, you know, a kid says something random and you have to respond quickly or your plans just get derailed and you have to figure it out. And so I'm really grateful for my Hillsdale education that, like, prioritized wonder, prioritized the unknown, because it's something that I now really value. Right.
- [17:43]
B
And what's your advice to students that might be interested in classical ed or don't even know what they want to do? What's your advice for them when they're looking for jobs?
- [17:52]
C
My advice is to teach elementary school, not middle school and not high school. I love teaching elementary school kids. I, like, never dreamed that for myself, but to be with young children all day makes my life better. To read literature with young students enriches my life in, like, the fullest ways. I, like, come home from my job, like, just so happy every single day, and it's just so fun. Like, I can literally say the word math, and the kids get excited. You don't get that in high school and middle school. You got to, like, convince them that math is beautiful and worth studying. But I can just say we're doing multiplication, and the kids are. Are all so excited. And it just gives me so much hope for myself that, like, I can have the same excitement for the same things. And it gives me hope that one day, like, these people are going to enter. These children are going to enter the world, and they're going to make a difference based on what we're giving them, as in classical education.
- [18:57]
B
And that's super special. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Thank you so much for joining me, Carissa.
- [19:03]
C
Thank you so much for having me, Lillian.
- [19:05]
B
And this has been beyond the Bubble, a career services podcast through Hillsdale College. I've been your host, Lily Faye Kramer, on radio free hillsdale1017fm.