![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Chelsey-Neff.jpg\")
<\/a>Neff<\/p><\/div>\n
From almost the moment she began her freshman year at UToledo, Neff has acclimated herself to the campus and in the Rocket community.<\/p>\n
She was a member of CHAARG (Changing Health, Habits, Attitudes, and Actions to Recreate Girls), in which she and other students encouraged and motivated each other to eat healthy and work out on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n
She was involved with the Student Affairs Committee at the Judith Herb College of Education during her sophomore year. She also worked as an education coach for the Toledo Transition Program, which provides an opportunity for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to attend college classes at UToledo.<\/p>\n
It was also during her sophomore year that Neff had an educational epiphany. Since most of her education classes overlapped with courses for English majors, she decided to double major.<\/p>\n
\u201cI signed the paperwork and became an English Literature major from that point on. Extra literature classes were required, but I was able to juggle 18 credit hours and take four to five literature classes each semester,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a lot of reading and writing, but I was determined to finish strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hard work was noticed. During fall 2018, Neff was nominated by the English department to become a member of Sigma Tau Delta, an international excelled English honor society.<\/p>\n
Overcoming difficulties and challenges is something Neff is accustomed to. As she said, \u201cWhat doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is a phrase I hold near and dear to my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Neff was 5 years old her dad died from a heart attack at age 43. She still listens to her dad\u2019s music collection \u2014 classic rock from the \u201960s, \u201970s and \u201980s \u2014 to be closer with him.<\/p>\n
For Neff, school was her \u201csafe place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI involved myself in as many extracurricular activities as I could juggle at once,\u201d Neff said. \u201cIn high school, my teachers pushed me to be my best all while surrounding me with the emotional care and love that I lacked at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Marcella Kehus, an associate professor in literacy education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, said Neff is \u201cthe teacher we picture when we talk about teaching to the whole child.\u201d<\/p>\n
She naturally addresses not only academic needs but is keenly aware of students\u2019 social, emotional, physical and ethical development,\u201d Kehus said. \u201cAs she has spent a full academic year in both a suburban and an urban high school, she has developed enticing lessons for whole classes while consistently keeping the needs of individual students with challenges in mind. Having overcome her own personal obstacles, she looks to school as an avenue for all students to seek their better selves.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduation, Neff said she will substitute teach at Toledo Public Schools and Monroe County, Mich. for the remainder of the K-12 academic year, and that she will tutor students remotely over the summer.<\/p>\n
Her long-term goal, though, is to teach high school English and be the kind of valuable in-class role model and mentor she\u2019s had throughout her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen choosing a career path, I knew I wanted to be an educator because my teachers impacted my life in a positive way, and I’m determined to give back to the future generations,\u201d Neff said. \u201cIf I can impact at least one student, hopefully many students, in a positive way that would be my ultimate goal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsey Neff wants to teach high school English and be the kind of valuable in-class role model and mentor she\u2019s had throughout her life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":878,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,60,69,53,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/878"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66321"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66335,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66321\/revisions\/66335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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