Student Spotlight: Carley Kueter
Carley Kueter, an elementary education major at Northern State University, is truly passionate about teaching.
Originally from Brandon, Kueter came to NSU for the school’s reputation of being the best university to inspire young educators.
“I also fell in love with Northern’s beautiful campus and the friendly professors,” Kueter said. “I knew from my very first visit that it would be a perfect fit for me.”
Now in her senior year, Kueter works for the Roncalli Catholic School District as a lead teacher for the Sonshine Patch summer program, where she teaches first through fourth grade students.
She is also involved with the Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC) on campus, where she is president and directs educational events for children in the community.
Adjusting to a New Place
Kueter’s biggest obstacle was adjusting to a new place and having so much independence.
“Being away from home was very difficult at times,” Kueter said. “You really have to put yourself out there. Time management was definitely something I had to master.”
Kueter also chose to forgo college athletics in favor of focusing harder in the classroom.
“It wasn’t an easy decision. I love sports,” said Kueter. “But looking toward the future, I knew it was the best decision for me.”
Despite the hard choices she had to make, Kueter says all of the obstacles in her life have helped shape her into the person she is today.
Plans for the Future
Kueter hopes to graduate college with a 4.0 GPA as an elementary education major with a minor in reading, and teach for a few years before pursuing her master’s.
“I think what gives me an upper hand against all my competitors is that I give 100 percent effort when completing a task,” Kueter said. “I am always looking for new ideas and try to make things fun and new for students.”
Despite her ideology of making things fun for students, she also thinks it is important to take things you do seriously, and to never be satisfied with the bare minimum.
“I also love traveling, so I hope to do more of that in my future,” Kueter said. “I did a two-week study abroad trip in Greece through the School of Education and loved seeing the education system there.”
She hopes to explore more countries as well as their education systems, but is ultimately focused on teaching and working with children.