Career Q+A

The following is an account of an interview with Ms. Abrams, the new staff member at Crossroads Middle School; this interview was recorded on February 6, 2024. I would like to apologize for the delay in writing this, and I tried to the best of my ability to provide a sort of transcript, though there are things cut out due to word count constraints..

Q: Okay, so may I ask, what initially brought you to Northview? 

 A:So I am a ‘educational leadership intern’; all of those words mean I’m an intern with Mr. K and with Ms. Grinwis. 

I’m learning more about what it means to be a school administrator. So, principal, assistant principal, dean, superintendent, that type of thing.

Q: So are you currently at a college? If so, what college do you go to?

A: Yep! So I attend Grand Valley State University. I’ve been at Grand Valley for a little while; I originally got my degrees in social work, so that’s my background. I’ve worked in schools as a therapist, and so from that point, I’ve become interested in education and I wanna mix the two. I went back to Grand Valley, and now I’m getting this type of certificate. 

Q: How do you feel about Northview currently?

A: I love Northview! I’ve had the opportunity to work at a variety of different districts, so working with them; and I have not seen as much unity as I have here and this is my second day (technically) being here. But there’s a lot of unity here I’ve noticed amongst the students and amongst the staff, I think that’s great.

Q: As a kid, what would you think your job would be?

A: Oh, that’s a good one, you really wanna go there, huh? So if I’m gonna be completely honest with you, I thought I was gonna be a variety of different things but my mom told me that, she said “Ebone, you always want to be a teacher.” and I said what, really?! That’s interesting. I don’t think that’s true. So she showed me where I wrote it down, years ago, I think like kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade “I want to be a teacher” and I chuckled because I do teach, in my, just kinda in job, and working with a variety of different people; working with students, I do a lot of teaching. 

And so, I never thought it would bring me here, cause I actually wanted to be a tattoo artist, or {Laila Ali}*, which is a female boxer. So I wanted to be one of those two, or an artist, so it brought me back all the way to education and I’m like “you know, I really like learning” and that’s one of the things I appreciate about being a teacher. You learn, as you’re even teaching others, as you learn from your students.

Q: Is it in the code not to ask about your family or something?

A: Mmmm, I don’t think so but I can share! So I am originally from Chicago, Illinois. I have been here for a little while now, again I went to Grand Valley 2011, graduated 2015, then I went back to get my master’s, and then I was done in 2017. And so, I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois, came up here for school; I am the oldest of two, my parents are back in Chicago, my sister is back in Chicago as well, she’s a fashion designer, actually. And yeah, it’s just the two of us, I have a pet rabbit named Ash. I am the only one here in Michigan, but I have definitely had the opportunity to create family, here, friends are the family that you choose. I’ve noticed that here about Crossroads, again, going back to that unity piece I can appreciate that cause that’s what taught me the importance of building a family, making sure you have unity, yeah.  

Q: What’s your favorite color?

A: Oh, my favorite color changes so, and it normally changes based off my mood, or kinda based off the season I’m in. So like, as an example, I might pick more mellow? So like, I still in a lot of neutral colors, that’s probably a lot deeper than it need to be, but , haha! A lot of neutral colors, like a tan, I like tan today, or I like beige, but normally, my go-to color is always, like, green. It’s like a nice, ‘scuse me, army green, or wintergreen, though, if it’s winter I like wintergreen, if it’s spring I like lime green.  

Q: What’s your favorite animal?

A: Ohh, I have two, but my top one is an elephant, my second one is a giraffe. I gotta get more reasons why I like giraffes, I just think they look cool. But, elephants are really smart, they’re very smart,  they’re super sensitive, and their memory is really good, so I’ve always think like “I always have to have the memory of an elephant, I need their memory” Cause I forget sometimes, a lot. So I’m like “Okay Ebone, you need the memory of an elephant”. 

Q: Do you subscribe to a specific philosophy?

A: Mmmhmm, that’s a really good question… Do I subscribe to a specific philosophy? So, the word that comes to me based off that question is ‘foundation’, meaning, ‘where you come from’ is really important cause it literally navigates where you’re going. So, as an example, if you don’t, even if you come from a foundation where you’re like  “I hate it there” or “I don’t like my family”,  “I don’t like the neighborhood we grew up in” that type of thing, or somebody could say “No, I love that” either way, it’s going to affect you. It’s going to matter which way you go. You could say “I hate it there, so I’m making sure I don’t ever get back there” but you could say “Oh, I could produce more of where I came from” yeah, so foundation is really important to me. 

Q: Who’s your favorite teacher here at Crossroads? 

A: Ohhh, I can’t say yet! Cause I’m still learning everyone! And truthfully, I probably don’t think I’ll have a favorite, cause it- it really is, it’s great here. It’s just the second time, but it’s been really nice connecting with everybody, everybody has been welcoming, yeah. I guess if I had to have a favorite, it would be anybody who, maybe had candy. Whoever has candy and makes sure I get some candy I would be very happy. But, I don’t have a favorite quite yet. 

Q: How old are you, currently? 

A: Well, that’s probably one question I probably can’t answer. But, I will say that I’m done with my twenties, though sometimes I still feel like I’m in my twenties, and I am approaching a very interesting age right now. 

Q: Thirty-four

A: No! Go a lil lower.

Q: Thirty-three

A: But you are right, in the thirties. I am in my thirties, for sure. 

Q: Thirty

A: I am thirty.

Q: How many languages do you know? 

A:I only know one, which is English, but I am very interested in learning ASL, very interested; probably because I have worked with different kiddos and adults with developmental disabilities, who worked well with sign-language, and I love that, and I say “I have to learn all of this” I actually just downloaded ASL apps so it could teach me. 

I would love to learn Italian though, that would be very fun. I hear it’s a little bit tricky.

Q: What was your favorite subject in school? 

A:Oh sure, I would say art, art was my favorite subject, I enjoyed being creative, I like to think of things on the fly now and then, so, yeah, art was definitely my favorite. But I had teachers that helped, subjects that I like, hated, became my favorite, and the teacher really does make a difference. I despised math, and I had great math teachers as I got older and I was like “Wow! I like, my high school math teacher, one of them.” I like my math teacher in like, 8th grade which was wonderful, in the way she taught math. 

Q: As closing words, what would you like to say in this interview as advice? 

A: The one word that comes to mind is ‘critical’ and this isn’t per se, to be like, ‘serious’ but, ‘critical’ in the very important word when we think about where you guys are today, in the terms of literature cause in 8th grade, our beautiful years, and, when I think about it, it’s getting ready to launch you out to something new. A new adventure, and that is highschool. And so, I think it’s important to think about how critical this time is, and if you notice, that you might be veering off, or you don’t know where you are going, try to connect with someone to try to get back to where you probably would like to be, and they can be like “Hey! This is actually right! You should be going this way!” or “Hey you shouldn’t go this way, maybe you should try this,” but if you don’t really know where you’re going, it’s okay, don’t put pressure on yourself, but, connect with someone; connection is really important, and in this crucial time, you gotta really develop good  connections. Whether it’s with your teachers, whether it’s with a friend, to see if you're kinda going in the right direction, but if you know that you aren’t, come back, what you do, at this time, is really important. I remember a lot of stuff I did in 7th and 8th grade, surprisingly, but I know a lot of stuff that helped in high school, and I know the stuff that didn’t help me in highschool, because of what I did in 7th and 8th grade.