We are very excited to announce that our Featured Educator is JJ Conneally from Career Institute in San Bernardino, Calif! I had the chance to talk to JJ about her personal story and hear how Roadtrip Nation is impacting her and her students this school year!
Molly: Where were you when you were a teenager, and how did you get to where you are today?
JJ: When I was a teenager, I was shy and insecure. I knew the world was my oyster, because my parents always told me, but I did not see how. Everything was told to me, but I had yet to experience it.
I had the usual dreams of wanting to be an actress, model, and singer. Reality hit me in the middle of college when I finally accepted that acting, modeling, and singing were better as hobbies. After college, I worked a year in fashion retail management to explore the fashion side, but soon found out I was not dedicated to that profession, so I started graduate school.
After I graduated with my master’s degree, I spent a year in Nairobi, Kenya. I worked a month at UNICEF in the external relations department. When I came back to the Washington, D.C. area (my hometown), I wanted to make a difference. My goal before going to Kenya was to be a diplomat like my father, but after my year in Nairobi, I decided I could still make a difference in another field.
Shortly after returning to Washington, D.C., I was offered a job in Chicago doing fundraising. I did that for four years and went into event planning. Looking back, most of my jobs, and now my current job, was and is educating people about why they should support the organizations I am raising support for in-kind or cash. I would say my career path is one of applying transferable skills and exploring unknown roads, which I am continually doing! This is why Roadtrip Nation is so important to teach.
Molly: How do you see Roadtrip Nation influencing your students?
JJ: Roadtrip Nation is influencing my students because it challenges them. It forces them to explore and accept that there is more than one way to approach life. There is no right or wrong. It is their lives, their mistakes, which turn into lessons if they choose to learn from it. It empowers and gives them hope. They come out with more confidence and realize that they are not alone. Everybody has the same feelings and vulnerabilities. They are pleasantly surprised that getting out of their comfort zones is not scary.
Molly: What is your favorite part about Roadtrip Nation?
JJ: My favorite lessons of Roadtrip Nation are “Don’t Fall Asleep at the Wheel” and “Go Out and Explore.” These lessons are important and should be taken at every crossroad of your life.
Molly: What is a memorable Roadtrip Nation moment in your classroom?
JJ: One memorable moment was the taste-testing mini Roadtrips we took as a class to taste different types of food. If I could have recorded each student’s face tasting sushi for the first time…! There were many different faces and expressions, some I had never seen!
