By Christine Hsu and Marcella Broadbooks
The United States is facing a teacher shortage, according to the Learning Policy Institute, a non-profit that conducts and communicates research on education policy and practice.
But Cynthia Montes, a fourth-year English major and Education minor at UC Santa Barbara, wants to buck that trend by working towards a career teaching high school English. As president of the UCSB Literature Club, she is already showing leadership in her chosen field.
Montes hopes that through teaching, she can instill in students a love for literature that they can enjoy throughout their lives – or at the very least, an understanding of how it can contribute to other disciplines.
Montes realized while taking Education and English courses that she wanted to be an educator. In a recent interview, she discussed her love for literature, why she wants to be a teacher, and what she is doing to prepare for her future career.
Q: What made you want to become a teacher?
A: I originally wanted to be a publisher but as I took more education courses, and more English courses, I realized that my passion really lies with education. I want to be a high school literature teacher because I really like working with students, and talking to them about literature.
It’s becoming a family business because I want to be a teacher just like my brothers, and we always joke with our mom because she is getting a match set.
Q: What are your experiences with literature here at UCSB?
A: I have taken Literary Theory, various courses on Shakespeare, a Jane Austen course, a science fiction course, British Literature and Romanticism, and I’m currently taking an upper division seminar on the post-literary condition. The favorite literature courses I’ve taken are Jane Austen and Shakespeare courses.
I’m also the president of UCSB’s Literature Club. We do a lot of fun activities, organize discussion questions, and play games. This quarter’s theme is graphic novels so we’ve been doing three panel comics, creating our own superhero universe, and discussing the social things that can be done with graphic novels as a medium. Every quarter, we have a book sale on campus and sell nonfiction and fiction books.
Q: What draws you to literature?
A: I love the narratives and storytelling of books and what they have to tell us. I’m constantly rereading my favorite books and buying new ones. Real life can sometimes be mundane and routine, but literature allows for the introduction to a new narrative and point of view.
I bought the complete works of Shakespeare including his sonnets. I particularly enjoy his tragedies and I often quote them to my friends and family. I think it’s so fun to learn about and analyze his works.
Q: Is there anything outside of your classes that you are doing to prepare for teaching?
A: In order to apply for credential programs you need 40 hours of in class experience. I’m working and volunteering at a high school right now. I volunteer, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, in two AP literature courses.
I help 10th graders think critically in depth, explore literature, and learn the functions of language. I like working with students one on one, and in small groups, to help them advance in their own education. I’m working closely with one of my mentors on a lesson plan for the AP class on Shakespeare, so I can teach the students about Macbeth.
Christine Hsu is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student majoring in English.
Marcella Broadbooks is a third-year UCSB student majoring in Writing & Literature.