 People know you can read textbooks about teaching and talk about teaching, but there's no substitute for standing in front of a classroom of students. One of the really important aspects of any good graduate program, especially one that's focusing on teaching and learning, is that we want our students to be able to see a direct connection between what they're learning and their work in the field. All of the classes prepare me really well for the practical. It's a second semester where you actually take over half of the classes and teach and it was really fun to see how you can shape students' minds with everything you were taught. There were so many factors that were extremely valuable for me to have the opportunity to experience things that you can just learn in the classroom. Having that year-long practicum is super important because you get to build relationships and I think that at the forefront of anyone's teaching practice should be building relationships with students.