Everyone has heard the expression “time flies,” but no one person actually grasps its true meaning until that person is a senior about to graduate from college. For the seniors at Wheaton, this is the last time you will be thinking about the Honor Code. This is the last time you will actually consider swimming across Peacock Pond. And as you make your way toward becoming a Wheaton alum, this will be the last time you will be a Wheaton student.

It is a time of excitement and fear. The “real world” is quickly approaching. Embrace it.

Caitlin Hawkins ’14 and Lindsay Tebbetts ’14 are both using their time at Wheaton to prepare themselves for their professional futures.

Caitlin Hawkins, who prides herself on planning ahead and taking advantage of opportunities, will be interning at City Rising Farm in Cleveland, Ohio starting in this coming June. Hawkins will be in charge of social media marketing as well as being the youth volunteer coordinator, in which she will oversee a group of 8-10 inner-city youths as they learn skills about environmental literacy.

In late August, Hawkins will be attending the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, in order to peruse a dual-degree Master’s program in social science administration with a concentration in community practice for social change, and non-profit organization. As a post-grad, Hawkins hopes to work in a community development organization in order to do non-profit work and management.

In the wake of her coming success, she commented that she “never shut a door on (herself).” She considers herself very lucky to have known what she wanted to do early on and to be able to apply herself in every possible way in order to achieve her goals.

Lindsay Tebbetts is perusing a career in early education as a teacher for grades K-2. Currently, she is applying for teaching positions in her hometown in New Hampshire. Tebbetts will be graduating from Wheaton with a double major in education with a concentration in early childhood and psychology.

For her last semester, Tebbetts has successfully completed her practicum in early childhood education. For twelve weeks, she has taught kindergarten and second grade for six weeks each. Within these weeks, Tebbetts has found comfort in creating lesson plans and conducting classes.

She commented that teaching children is very rewarding, for their success is what motivates you to do your best. In her second grade class, Tebbetts used a creative method to ensure success for her students. In order to prepare her students for a unit test in math, she spent one week teaching her class five different subjects in math. She then proceeded to give her students a practice test that mocked the real test.