Graduate Assistant Spotlight: Catie Reid
Hi everyone! I’m Catie Reid and I’m one of the new graduate assistants in the MSEd program. I’m studying secondary education and hope to teach high school. My primary content area is Spanish, and I will be getting an additional endorsement in chemistry. I’m not sure yet which subject I’ll end up teaching. Maybe I’ll get to teach both - who knows!
Before coming to Northwestern, I double majored in chemistry and Spanish at Wheaton College. After that, I pursued a master’s degree in Spanish linguistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I graduated from that program in May 2022. After graduation, I bought a house, got married, started a job at a marketing firm, and got ready to settle down…until I realized that I’m happiest when I’m in an academic environment.
It still took me a few months to fully commit to the idea of returning to school and becoming a teacher, but when I look back at my past experiences, the signs have always been there. I tutored throughout high school and college. I also held a few different TA positions in college. I got some hands-on experience with teaching and classroom management in graduate school, where I taught gen-ed Spanish classes for two years. This was actually my favorite part of graduate school! I loved getting to know students and helping them build their understanding of Spanish, and I always felt so energized after I was done teaching a class. When I graduated from UIUC, I started tutoring again because I missed teaching. The few hours I spent tutoring quickly became the highlight of my week, and that sparked the self-reflection that eventually landed me here.
When I’m not studying or working, I try to spend as much time as possible with my husband Ty and our pets Layla (dog), Zeva (dog), and Rascal (cat). I also play pickleball, play the piano, and bake in my spare time. I’m so excited to be in the MSEd program, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me!