Hello! My name is Ryan Alvarado (he/him/his). I received my Bachelor of the Arts degree from The Ohio State University in Spring 2022 with a double major in Public Management, Leadership, and Policy along with Political Science and a concentration in Comparative Politics. 

I will be a teacher with a non-traditional background; however, I will be fully qualified for my position. I have heavily researched programs addressing the educator shortage such as City Year and have noticed that in their preparation, official teaching licenses are not obtained. While serving as a temporary solution, if implemented long-term, students would suffer in unfairly being educated by non-certified teachers. 

I believe in the importance of and recognize the need for quality educators of all backgrounds and for this reason I am attending the University of Findlay in order to obtain my AYA Integrated Social Studies teaching license. I already have a great sense of pride in the education that I am receiving from this institution. The university’s personalized approach to the program is astonishing and I hope to offer my students the same experience.