Feature Teacher: Miss Vee

This month I had the privilege of interviewing Miss Vee, one of our school’s English teachers! She went to Grand Valley State University for college, and she let me know that she hadn’t really experienced school spirit for her alma mater until coming to CCHS, where most staff have attended Calvin University. Miss Vee has wanted to be a teacher for a long time. She has known that she wants to go back overseas eventually, and that would be easiest if she was either a teacher or a nurse. She knew she didn’t want to be a nurse, so she became a teacher! She never actively thought about doing another job, but if she were to do something else, she would be interested in some sort of designing, either graphic or interior, or possibly do something where she could work with women who are recovering from human trafficking.
Her favorite thing about Calvin Christian is that, because it’s a small school, she can get to know everyone to a certain degree. She knows all of the staff and has a personal connection with each of them, and she knows every single kid here. She said, “It doesn’t feel like you’re lost in a sea of people you don’t know,” which is something she really enjoys about our school.
Outside of school, Miss Vee enjoys backpacking, hiking, cooking, baking, and doing random Pinterest crafts. She told me she really wants to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a trail that stretches from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, going through California, Oregon, and Washington. It’s a five-month journey, so she currently doesn’t have the time to do it, but it’s something she would love to do.
Something else about Miss Vee is that she’s not only a high school teacher, but she also coaches the middle school cross country team. Because of this, I asked her who’s better: middle schoolers or high schoolers? Her response was that there are positives and negatives to both. Middle schoolers have a lot of energy, while high schoolers have the potential to have more peace. High schoolers can have more substantial conversations, and they also think that they know more about who they are as a person. Middle schoolers are more awkward and are still becoming who they are.
I asked her some rapid-fire questions. She prefers tea over coffee, dogs to cats, Apple to Android, and sweet snacks to salty ones. Her favorite season is fall. She said she couldn’t care less about who’s better between Michigan and Michigan State. She loves pineapple on pizza, even going so far as to say that it’s the only type of pizza she gets excited about. She supports socks with sandals, saying “you do you,” and acknowledged that Michigan is cold and sometimes tying shoes can be annoying. Finally, I asked her if she could be any animal, what would she be, and why? She said she’d be a river otter because they’re super cute, and she has heard that they hold hands at night so they don’t float away from each other, and she has never heard of someone getting annoyed with river otters. She then looked off in the distance, sighed a very happy sigh, and said, “I’m just imagining my life as a river otter.”
One other fun fact she mentioned about herself is that she got second place in the nation in 12 and under double dutch freestyle jump roping when she was twelve years old.
I had a blast getting to talk to and interview Miss Vee, I hope you all enjoyed getting to know a little more about her!