Career discernment
10/30/2024
Commuter student Kayla Nartker has added a second major in middle childhood education with an English concentration.
Grant helped Kayla Nartker find her calling
During the month of May, Kayla Nartker ’27, a history AYA and middle childhood education double major, from Kalida, Ohio, received Bluffton’s Summer Discovery Grant and spent more than 50 hours observing nine different teachers in multiple schools to help discern the career path she wanted to take.
Nartker was encouraged to pursue the grant by Dr. Perry Bush, emeritus professor of history. Through this grant, Nartker was able to observe and interview teachers in English classes and in Catholic schools.
Having attended a public high school, Nartker wanted to discover what teaching in a Catholic school setting was like. Nartker also wanted test out if she wanted to pursue a double major in English.
“I have considered teaching in a Catholic school after I graduate and becoming an English teacher, but I had no idea if that is what I wanted to actually do,” said Nartker. “This grant allowed me to decide to add middle childhood education with a concentration in English to my degree with hopes to one day work in a Catholic school after I graduate.”
Nartker’s mother Beth Kortokrax, a 1990 Bluffton alumni, encouraged her to visit campus. Nartker says after her tour she fell in love with Bluffton and decided to come.
“I first visited campus because my mom came here,” said Nartker. “I really loved my tour and the ability to visit with a professor on the visit. I still have the professor [Dr. Martina Cucchiara, professor of history] I met with on my visit in classes, so that has been really special to me.”
A commuter student, Nartker has still felt connected to campus and has been able to stay involved. Nartker is a President’s Ambassador, secretary of history club and a member of Bluffton Education Organization.
Bluffton’s Summer Discovery Grant is supported by the Karl Schultz Discovery Funds, an endowment established through the gift of Bluffton alumnus, Karl Schultz. The $1,500 grant allows students to develop their own summer internship to help them discover their calling. Up to two grants are awarded to Bluffton students each year.