Meet members of Geneseo's Class of 2017, who exemplify the college’s commitment to community, innovation, creativity, sustainability, and excellence. Student writers are highlighting our newest alumni and the contributions they have made, the calling they have found and discoveries made along the way.
Autumn Arnold ’17 is a fourth generation member of her family to attend Geneseo, following in the footsteps of her great-grandfather, grandfather, father, uncle, and brother. In Autumn’s family, the experiences here at Geneseo are a shared family tradition.
“I’ve always aspired to come to Geneseo, and now it happened,” says Autumn. “There are moments that plant roots, and help you grow yourself as a person. Geneseo allows you to create these experiences and connections every day.”
She was able, she says, to do that earning her bachelors degree in The Ella Cline School of Education, as a childhood with special education major and a concentration in English.
Within the education field, Autumn says she learned the tools to share her passion for lifelong learning, and how to pass such tools along to her students.
She will take several lessons learned, and moments, with her as she graduates.
One of the most defining moments for Autumn was the fundamental shift in understanding of disabilities within Associate Professor Linda Ware’s class. “I realized that we have these social constructs of how we view disabilities and how we determine what others can and can’t do based on a label.”
Autumn has taken this learning to heart, and believes that in a modern classroom, difference should be the norm, as well as the accepted standard. She wants to teach in an inclusion classroom that combines disabled and non-disabled students. She says, “We should question ourselves, instead of our students; what can I do as a teacher?”
Two magnets with the description “be kind, smile more” and “be generous” attached to School of Education Lecturer Elizabeth Falk’s syllabus reminded Autumn of another concept: a teacher is there to serve the student’s development.
Autumn is building on these experiences this summer as a teacher and mentor at the EXPLO program at Wheaton College for students between the ages of 7 and 12. The program is structured in a non-traditional way to allow students to engage in creative projects, where learning is valued over the final product.
Autumn even designed a lesson plan for her students already. In one, she will instruct students on the process of making a cookie; the science behind the ingredients and how they combine. “They will take their knowledge and apply these practices to put together their own recipe; even if it doesn’t taste good, it is the steps to get there that is important,” she says.
In fall, Autumn is pursuing a masters degree in B-12 literacy and reading at Geneseo. From there, Autumn has one goal: “to be in a classroom that has that special feeling of home” — just like she felt at Geneseo.
— By Kitrick McCoy '19