Ellie Meynardie is a senior at Denison double majoring in Educational Studies and History. Meynardie came to Denison not knowing what classes she wanted to take during her “second or third semester” at Denison. “I started thinking about the adults in my life who I admired, and overwhelmingly, they were educators, so I became an Education major on a tentative basis, and then I started taking classes in the department and in a lucky twist of fate, I actually am really passionate about it.” Meynardie had no idea that she would become an Educational Studies major, but it turned out to be an important piece of her time at Denison. 

After taking a few classes in the Education Department and then deciding to declare it as a major, Meynardie then became an Education Department Fellow working on initiatives to help other students in the department to succeed and make the most out of their time at Denison. She also works in the Education Department office and used to be a tutor with the Academic Resource Center (ARC). “I’m also a Peer Sex Educator with DPP, which isn’t with the department, but it is educational,” she said.

Meynardie is currently doing a directed study with Dr. Wang that involves a curricular service learning (CSL) component. This allows her to student teach in a local school. One time a professor in the Education Department considered Meynardie’s preferences and schedule when designing a class for the major. “I think generally the relationships that you form throughout your time with the department are really important, especially since it’s such a small department, everyone really does know and care about everybody else in the department,” she said reminiscing about all the impactful relationships she made with not just faculty, but also her peers.

In the spring of 2023, Meynardie studied abroad in Prague where she got to teach English every week to students! She also has worked with children at the United Church of Granville and ran a summer program for children ages three to eighteen years old through AmeriCorps VISTA which was her Educational Studies major required internship. Throughout Meynardie’s experiences teaching, she has learned that “It’s important to approach every situation and every child, even (and perhaps especially) the ones that are frustrating to you, with a level of care and compassion, recognizing that you’re only seeing part of their story,” she said.

In the future, Meynardie hopes to be a high school Social Studies teacher. “I hope to be the kind of educator that made me want to go into the field– I always say I want to be a social studies teacher because I had a series of really amazing social studies teachers, and that’s true, but they wouldn’t have impacted me the way they did if I hadn’t needed that influence in my life, so I hope I can be that kind of influence to students that need it in the future,” Meynardie said. Becoming an Educational Studies major was not initially planned out by Ellie Meynardie, but since discovering her passion for teaching she has been able to immerse herself and enjoy the field of education.