Ms. McGraw Interview

An Interview with Ms. McGraw

By Paige Martin

There is a constant flux and flow to the Bishop Ireton community. Every year, teachers leave, and new teachers join our school. One new teacher is Ms. Molly McGraw. A part of the English department, Ms. McGraw teaches English 9 and AP Language and Composition. I sat down with Ms. McGraw for an interview to introduce her to the Bishop Ireton community.

P: What part of English do you like the most?

M: You know, I love creative writing, I love reading and teaching poetry and I love creative fiction as well as narrative. I just think that English is a unique way to encourage people to tell their stories. Stories are so important. We just read the Adichie piece [in AP Language and Composition] and stories build empathy and the more stories you read, the wider your perspective is, the more open-minded you are, and the more empathetic you are, and I think that’s why English is so important to me.

P: What inspired you to go into teaching specifically? M: I wanted to be a lawyer for a really long time. But junior year, I went to a career fair, and I was just wandering around with my friend, and we stumbled by this table, the Alliance for Catholic Education, and I handed them my resume and we chatted a little bit. I remember a semester later, I got an email from the person I talked to at the career fair, and he remembered the smallest details from our conversation and he said he would really love me to apply to this program. I remember thinking to myself, ‘You know, I haven’t really considered teaching before, but that’s the type of person I want to be. I want to be someone who remembers people, is intentional, is joyful, is passionate about what they do. Well, I might as well give it a try.’

So, I applied to the program. I still went in thinking, ‘Okay, I’m gonna teach for two years then I’m gonna apply to law school.’ So, the first full year of teaching, I was teaching, but I was also studying for the LSATS. But then I got through my first year and went back for summer classes and I had a professor tell me, “Hey, you have a talent for this, and I don’t think you should give up on it yet” and I went back my second year and I just fell in love with it. Like everyday I woke up and I was excited to go to work, to see my students and work with them and see how they grew as writers and readers and I couldn’t ignore that because I knew that was a call, you know?

P: What drew you to BI specifically? M: I think I walked into this school, and I knew that this was where I was supposed to be. The first thing that drew me to it was the Writing Center. I was looking for a school that really prioritized writing instruction and so when I saw that BI had a Writing Center, I immediately put it on my list. Also, I care a lot about teaching at a Catholic school. The Salesian spirituality and the Catholic values are something that drew me to BI. And generally, something I’ve noted, is people just really genuinely enjoy being here. And I could feel that when I visited.

P: How do you see yourself fitting into the community here at Ireton, with clubs and sports, possibly, or other parts of the school?

M: I think it’s going to take me a little bit of time to settle in and find my flow here, but I would love to help with the drama department once I’m more established. I was involved in theater all throughout high school, so I’d love to help with set design or backstage, or anywhere that they’ll take me, I’d love to help.

P: What goals do you have for the upcoming school year?

M: I want to go to at least one sporting event for every sport. I set that goal at the beginning. I’ve gone to a soccer game, a field hockey game, and I stopped into a volleyball game. I’ve still got a lot to go, but that’s more of a personal goal. Professional and academic, I really want to find a balance between preparing you for the AP exam and just finding a joy for reading and writing. I think that’s important. We’re also here to encourage you to be lifelong readers and writers.

P: Do you have any advice for students?

M: It sounds so run of the mill, but I was a lot like many of you in that grades mattered a lot in high school, and I felt that pressure all the time because college was just around the corner, I’ve got to have, you know, perfect grades and test scores and extracurriculars and everything. But I think my piece of advice is that everything that feels big now will feel so small in the future. And I even tell myself that right now, like in my current moment that feels big, I know in five, ten years it’ll feel so small now, and that dose of perspective really gets me through the toughest times.

Ms. McGraw is a strong asset to the Bishop Ireton and the English department. I am confident that her presence will continue to be felt throughout the school year, in many different areas of the school.