Faith Shaw ’13 BSED gives credit to her late aunt, Pamela Ann Gayles Johnson ’83 ED, for setting her on a path to become an educator.

"She was a graduate of Medaille, and worked as a sixth grade teacher at North Park Middle Academy," said Shaw. "She was like no other teacher I have ever seen - no student who tried, failed while in her classroom." "From the first time I set foot on campus, I have been given the opportunity to better myself," Shaw noted. She cites the influence of the Academic Support Center in going "that extra mile."

"Tiffany Hamilton [student success advocate] has always treated me with respect and kindness," she explained. "Not enough people know how to show these traits while dealing with students." Shaw feels that her work as a peer mentor has made her not only "a more responsible student, but also a more responsible person." As Shaw reflects on her aunt’s legacy, she offered, "When she passed, I told myself that I had to continue her story, but with my own ending." Looking to the future, she intends to earn a master’s degree, and then a doctorate, in literacy.