Allison Page: Mary Roosevelt Honor Scholarship in Teaching and Learning

Allison Page has been awarded the Mary Roosevelt Honor Scholarship in Teaching and Learning during the UCI School of Education 2018-2019 Scholarship Award Ceremony. Allison is pursuing her Multiple Subject Master of Arts in Teaching. 

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Allison Page grew up across four states, which developed in her an appreciation for travel and a curiosity for the world outside of her immediate community. She received her B.A. in Studio Art from UC Santa Barbara in 2010 with a love for painting, yet an uncertain career path. After trying many different jobs post-college, she knew she had not yet found her life’s work. It wasn’t until she started volunteering as a fifth grade cheerleading coach in 2014 that her childhood dream of becoming a teacher was reinvigorated. Within the year, Allison left her job as a bookkeeper and moved to Taiwan with the intention of staying for one year, but ended up staying for three. She fell in love with Taiwan, yet, greater still was her devotion for education.

Over the course of her time in Taiwan, Allison worked as both an English teacher, to a range of grade levels spanning elementary and high school, and a Headstart teacher to a class of 2-3 year-olds. She looked forward to being with her students every day and found that helping them to learn about the world constantly reshaped the way that she herself viewed the world.

After returning to America in 2017, Allison became an instructional assistant to a special education preschool classroom and a behavior interventionist for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. As a sister to someone on the Autism Spectrum, she found that this work quickly became more than a job and solidified her desire to help underserved populations. Though her path to becoming a teacher was long and winding, her resolve and dedication to education sharpened over time. Being a part of UC Irvine’s Master in Teaching and Multiple Subject Credential Program is one of her proudest accomplishments. 
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Allison Page and Mary Roosevelt