Voice: March 2017

Mallory Piercy is making strides as the PSEA-PACE chair of Student PSEA.

Piercy, a junior, is a secondary education English major and political science minor at Clarion University. And she sees the impact that politics has on her future career. Now, she wants to make sure other aspiring educators are aware, too.

She's using her leadership position in Student PSEA to boost communications with fellow members and encourage them to use their voices to advocate for public education.

"It's extremely important that as aspiring educators, we are aware of upcoming education policy and can advocate for or against it, because it will impact us and our students as soon as we become teachers," she said.

Drawn to education from an early age, Piercy is eager to make her mark in the world as a future educator.

"From a young age, I always loved to learn. I chose to go into the field of education primarily because I wanted to encourage young people to be as passionate about learning as I am," she said. "I also believe that every substantial issue we face in our country starts and ends with how we choose to educate our youth, so I think I was very drawn to teaching above other careers because I knew I'd be making a huge difference in a lot of people's lives, and by default, the world."

Piercy, who also serves as secretary of Clarion's Student PSEA chapter, has found her experience with her union invaluable.

"Being a member of Student PSEA has completely changed my life," she said. "Through this organization, I've built relationships with other aspiring educators who are just as passionate about education as I am, which is truly rewarding. While Student PSEA certainly helped me grow as a professional, the lifelong friendships I've made here are, to me, what it's all about."