Channeling her own experiences of needing speech therapy as a kid, English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher Alesha Nielsen was drawn to helping those who were in the same situation.
“I would just be talking and it was like gibberish,” Nielsen said. “My mom almost held me back because she could understand most of what I said, but my grandparents, aunts and uncles were all lost, so she put me in speech therapy.”
Nielsen attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah for her undergraduate degree in speech language pathology and met her husband. Later, she had children and found it hard to find an appropriate time to start her graduate program, until she recalled how she taught English in a vocational college in China.
“[The students] were really positive, enthusiastic and were just excited to be there,” Nielsen said. “I had really good memories of that time.”
Photo used with the permission of Alesha Nielsen.
In 2018, she applied for different teaching preparation programs and started her graduate program in teaching while overseas in China. Nielsen was able to do most of her work online, except for her student teaching practicum during her first year of teaching.
“I moved at a slower pace; a couple of classes at a time, no more than two, just because I had to balance out [being with] my family and work,” Nielsen said.
Over the years, she had gained classroom experience and worked with students through being a substitute teacher and a teacher’s assistant before joining FCPS. After she had settled in Centerville, she was interviewed at different places and looked for work close to her home, bringing her to CHS.
“My friends who kind of knew the schools around the area would tell me ‘oh, [CHS] is such a great school,’ or they just know the school by reputation and that was all really reassuring to me.” Nielsen said.
Although at CHS, she isn’t a speech language pathologist, her background proved helpful when students had trouble with language and pronunciation. From being set on speech language pathology, she was able to transition into a new career at her own pace.
“I think that one door closed and another one kind of opened, and I’m glad that I went the teaching route,” Nielsen said. ”It’s tough. There are parts of teaching that I don’t enjoy but overall, it’s a really rewarding job to have, so no regrets.”
