Alumna Danika Epp draws on her faith and examples set by role models she’s found at CMU and in her personal life to develop her own teaching style.
Currently studying education at the University of Manitoba, Epp credits the strong community aspect of CMU with enabling teachers to be close to and available for their students.
“The professors put a lot of effort into making sure that each student has a relationship with them,” she says.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in spring 2014, Epp’s major in History and double minor in English and Biblical Studies enabled her to study a wide range of subjects taught by a variety of professors. She says this broad knowledge base will help her as a teacher.
Growing up, Epp was taught by a number of family members, including her mother and father. Inspired by the way her parents taught, she appreciates it when her parents’ former students tell her how helpful they were as teachers.
Sharing her parents’ love of teaching, Epp hopes to help students in a similar way. “I want to help people find where they want to go and share my joy and knowledge with them,” she says.
Epp also draws on her faith when envisioning the type of teacher she would like to be. She says that being a teacher requires loving one’s neighbour, withholding judgment, and being patient.
“My faith helps me be the Jesus-like teacher,” she says. “I try and remember to be a servant.”