Chrystal Tells All : How to Make your Education Pathway Crystal Clear

Although it may seem simple, identifying your likes and dislikes can be a hard thing to do. However, I believe that it is a crucial building block when it comes to achieving your bigger-picture goals for the future, whatever it may be. This week, I’d like to introduce to you a close friend of mine. She is someone who I envy sometimes because she seems to know exactly where she’s going and what she wants to do. Perhaps this little snippet of how one girl managed to discover her passion will inspire you to try and fall in love again with what you’re studying, or otherwise turn a corner and try something completely new. 

Michelle Shen for Her Campus McGill (HC McGill): To start things off, how about introducing yourself?

Chrystal Zhang (CZ): Hello! My name is Chrystal Zhang, and I am a U2 Kindergarten Elementary Education student. I like to draw, doodle, make comics … I also like to find as many dogs as possible on the street (laughs), and make it my job to point it out to anyone nearby! 

HC McGill: If I were to ask you to compare yourself from university versus yourself at the start of high school, what would you say has changed? What has stayed the same?

CZ: In high school, I was in a specialized math and science program, and in those 4 years, I decided that I’m not good at science, and I don’t like math as much as I thought I did. Now in university, I’m much more confident in where I want to be in life. Back in high school, my parents would keep suggesting future careers for me, and I didn’t really vibe with any of them. The moment someone mentioned teaching, my immediate response back then was actually repulsion – it was not something I thought I would do, even though I was working two part time jobs with kids at the time. 

HC McGill: Why were you so against going into teaching at first?

CZ: Teaching wasn’t really a reputable profession. It’s not paid as well as other professions, and teachers are known to be always stressed out. It seemed like a lot of work for relatively little benefit. 

HC McGill: Well, if your first reaction was an immediate “NO”, how is it that you ended up studying education at all? 

CZ: Well, if everyone around you keeps telling you that they think you’d make a great teacher (including my teachers, my classmates, and my brother), eventually you open up. To be honest, I didn’t think of actually doing education until applications for university in grade 12. I was struggling with all the science in high school, and one of the teachers pulled me aside to have a face-to-face talk. He asked me if I had ever considered going into education. He knew that I had been volunteering for a program where we do activities with elementary school kids. He told me, “You’re so great with kids … I think this is something you should consider”. 

My brother influenced my decision a lot too. He told me that “university isn’t the be-all-end-all”. He’s 10 years older than me and he’s currently a video effects editor. When he started university, he was there for accounting or finance or something, and he absolutely hated the first year. So, he switched into his university’s tiny film program, and was able to make career out of himself. His story has been a huge inspiration for me, especially since he got a stable job right when I was about to apply for university.

HC McGill: It seems you had a number of positive influences as you were applying for university. Do you have any role models (since I think having role models both in your field of study and in life is super important for giving you direction)? 

CZ: I would name my brother and my high school teacher I mentioned earlier as role models. I would also say all of my education professors so far in university — they’re all super amazing. I also watched the documentary about Mr. Rogers. It’s a great documentary, and I realized that a lot of the stuff he did really relates to me, such as the way he wanted to teach kids. So I’d say he’s one of my role models, too. 

HC McGill: What do you like about your current program?

CZ: The professors – so many of them are just very approachable, especially when you participate in class. The class sizes are really helpful too. Usually, there are 30 people maximum for certain courses. I really enjoyed my field placement – several of the teachers there gave me tips and advice. McGill does a good job with their education program in this respect. 

HC McGill: Could you tell us a little more about field placements in the education program?

CZ: Field placements are kind of like an internship and kind of like a shadowing opportunity. You get placed in an actual school, and McGill helps to figure out which school to place you at depending on where you live. 

HC McGill: Could you tell us a little about your first field experience? 

CZ: I was nervous at first, since I didn’t know what to expect. The program does tell you that you’re supposed to take notes on what teachers do, but I didn’t know if I was allowed to participate in class. I did take the initiative to help out teachers with class activities, and I was complimented for doing that (I think that’s something you should do that normally though). It was really amazing — the students were amazing, the teachers were amazing. It was an overall positive experience. 

HC McGill: What were some of your takeaways from this field placement?

CZ: In my first two weeks, I was with kindergartens and grade 1s. In that time, I was able to decide that I won’t be teaching this age group in the future. People have different skill sets, and I think I would be suited for an older age range, although I do know a lot of other people in my program who want to teach younger grades. Well, all experience is good experience, even the bad ones.

HC McGill: Lastly, do you have any advice for people who are still trying to figure out what they like?

CZ: It sounds kind of cliché, but really, there is no rush. You may have people around you who seem like they know what they want to do, but that might not be the real picture. As long as you try out things that you might seem interested in, you might discover a new passion. The fear of wasting your time can really stop you from experiencing something that you might truly be interested in. I’m glad I tried out science and math in high school and realized I didn’t like it. I don’t regret that – I was able to meet all these people from there, and even though I went in a different direction, I’m still close with them. It might be hard to understand the advice of a random stranger (like me), but do know that there is someone out there who believes that you can figure it out! 

HC McGill: Thanks so much for sitting down and chatting with us! 

Images obtained from interviewee, or from the following:

Fischer Twins https://unsplash.com/photos/uSPjZzYwXO4

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