First-year teacher reflects on her non-traditional journey

BEECH ISLAND, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Have you ever had a dream, but you thought it was too late to accomplish it?

New first-grade teacher Tracy Farmer proved that isn’t the case. After raising four boys, she decided to go back to college to get her degree in early childhood education.

“I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten and I stood on the stage at graduation and when they said ‘What do you want to be when you grow up’ I said I wanted to be a school teacher,” said Farmer.

Farmer says that it can be intimidating for non-traditional college students to walk into a classroom full of students just out of high school.

“It’s very difficult to go to a college campus and be a non-traditional student,” she says. “I felt like I had to learn everything before I can even do the assignments.”

She says that seeing her very own first-grade students for the first time made it all worth it.

“I probably would compare it to like going to Disney World and seeing that castle,” said Farmer. “It was all that I dreamed it would be.”

Farmer wants to encourage everyone to follow their dreams, no matter what they think is standing in their way.

She says, “I would recommend anybody no matter their age, going back to college and pursuing their dreams, even though it is hard, it is worth every ounce of hardness.”

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