Whitney Duckett had always planned to go to a four-year institution after graduating from Tellico Plains High School in 2011, but when her parents’ financial situation changed, she did not want to be a burden on them and decided Cleveland State was a better fit for her family at the time. This decision proved to be the right one.
“I had seen a lot of their advertisements, and Patty Weaver, the Director of the Athens Center, had been to a lot of the school events that I had been to.
I loved how close the Athens Center was to my hometown, and I also loved Cleveland. It is really easy to get around in Cleveland. Everything was very convenient.”
Ms. Duckett said coming to Cleveland State, she knew that she wanted to be a teacher. Both her sister and her aunt are teachers. So, she enrolled in Intro to Teaching with Patty Weaver.
“Mrs. Weaver let us know what to expect—both the good and the bad. I am so glad I took that class when I did. With that class, we were able to get into the schools early, so it helped me know this is exactly where I need to be, but it also helped convince others this was not for them. This class helps students to not waste their time doing something that they do not want to do!”
Although Ms. Duckett did take some classes on the main campus, the majority of her classes were at the Athens Center. “I had a good experience at Cleveland State. I could always get in contact with my professors if I needed to. I got really close to the staff here, the security guards, the office staff—everyone was so friendly and nice to me. The Athens Center always had a lot of extracurricular activities going on, dinners—just a lot of fun ways to get involved.”
Mrs. Weaver stated, “I often encounter students that really have no idea what they want to major in. Whitney was one of those students that knew from the get go what she wanted to do—and that was to be an elementary school teacher. She was one of the most delightful, committed, passionate students that I’ve had in an education class, and I know that she will make an awesome teacher!”
“Mrs. Weaver was a real inspiration to me. Not only with my time at CSCC, but I have kept in contact with her. She nominated me for an award—I received the Most Outstanding Student for the Athens Center in 2013. Without her, I don’t know if I could have done it. I strongly advise anyone who is coming to Cleveland State to get involved on campus and get to know the faculty and staff. It will really pay off to make those connections!”
Ms. Duckett said one thing that really surprised her about Cleveland State was how much she enjoyed the Math Lab. “I have never been the best at Math. It has always been something I struggled with, and one thing I like is there is always a tutor walking around the math lab if you need help. I really liked how the math programs were set up. You could do it as many times you needed to get it right and to understand it. That really helped to take the stress out of it because I was able to work it out for myself. The alternative learning style really helped me because I was not just sitting in a class listening to a lecture.”
Ms. Duckett said she really liked that a lot of people from her hometown attended Cleveland State, but there were also people from other towns and all walks of life attending there. It was small enough that she was able to maintain friendships from her high school, but large enough that she was able to meet new people from different backgrounds.
“Cleveland State has a good mix of different people; it is such a comfortable environment. No matter what age you are or where you are from, you are welcome there!”
After attending Cleveland State for two years, Ms. Duckett transferred to Tennessee Wesleyan College (TWC). She worked with Mrs. Weaver, who served as her advisor, to ensure that all of her classes would transfer from CSCC, and she said she was shocked at the similarities between CSCC and TWC.
“I came from a very small high school,” stated Ms. Duckett. “So, I liked that CSCC was a small school, and I didn’t feel like I was making this huge jump when I went there from high school, and the same thing with TWC. It is very similar to CSCC. I have always been more comfortable in small classes. I think I learn better when I have more one on one time. I couldn’t be in an auditorium with 100 people listening to an instructor where you can’t really ask questions unless you email them and you can’t speak face to face. Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with that at either school.”
Ms. Duckett continued, “The small class sizes are great. I think the largest class size I ever had at Cleveland State was maybe 30 people, which is about the size of a high school class. The classes at TWC were small, as well. CSCC was a good gateway. It wasn’t this big culture shock, and the teachers weren’t intimidating at all—at either school.”
Ms. Duckett will be practicing her student teaching in the fall and will graduate in December from TWC with her B.S. degree in Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, K-6.