[Story by Emily Hughitt]

After 13 years of teaching, Early ISD teacher Brittany Dunlap reflects on why she became a teacher and how she decided to teach history.

“I went to Howard Payne, and I planned on going into youth ministry and psychology,” Dunlap said. “I took a summer class with John Nichols. He taught government, and before that I hated history.”

Dunlap added that the impact Nichols made on her was a deciding factor in her becoming a history teacher.

“He was an amazing educator. He is an amazing person. He really put the effort into making a connection with me, and he made the subject come alive. I fell in love with the subject,” Dunlap said. “After that semester I changed my major to secondary education and history, to hopefully inspire someone like he had inspired me.”

For Dunlap, the most rewarding part of being a teacher is when she knows she has positively affected her students’ lives.

“I love when students come back and tell me how they are doing in life, or how something I taught them helped them or they remembered it,” she said. “I just want them to be good humans, good citizens of the world. So, when former students come back and they are thriving and doing well in whatever avenue that life takes them, that is truly the most rewarding aspect.”

Dunlap added that the future of education seems bright and ever-changing.

“What I love about education is that it is always changing. It is always adapting to new technology and new ideas. It doesn’t stay stagnant,” Dunlap said. “We’re always looking for better ways to meet the whole student, to connect and have the student feel like a whole person and not just a number.”