Dr. Jill Biden always knew she wanted to be a teacher, and says the best part about her job is "seeing that spark light up in their eyes the moment a concept falls into place."
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden is back in her beloved classroom after remotely teaching students through a computer screen for months!
Dr. Biden, who has a doctorate in educational leadership, teaches English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, reports The New York Times, thus making her the first woman to balance her duties as the first lady, along with her duties as an educator. It is in the same college that she taught full-time as the second lady throughout the Obama administration.
The First Ladies before Dr. Biden did not work outside their home; the White House. They supported their husbands, raised children, and performed the role of hostess, as per NBC News. It's safe to say that the 70-year-old educator is now forging a new path for herself and her successors. “Teaching isn't just what I do. It's who I am,” she says.
According to PEOPLE, President Joe Biden's wife maintains a strict divide between her personal and professional life. Known as "Dr. B", she chooses to keep politics out of the classroom; in fact, many of her students didn't even know she was married to the then-president!
From this fall, Dr. Biden will teach her students on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The classes are touted to be a mix of both online and in-person sessions. Nearly half of the semester's classes will be conducted in the college, and students will have to mandatorily wear masks in class while practicing social distancing, regardless of their vaccination status.
She will travel on days when she is not in the classroom, alongside her husband, fulfilling her duties that come with the role of the first lady.
“As we return to our classrooms this fall, it will take all of us coming together to keep our schools safe and open,” she wrote in an essay for Time magazine in September 2021. “We must remember that our enemy is the virus, not one another.” Dr. Biden, who has been teaching for decades, previously opened up to Good Housekeeping about what inspired her to pursue teaching as a career option
"In college, I started working with older students who struggled with reading. I've always loved to read, and I wanted to help them find that same joy that I found in books," she said. "It was then that I knew that I'd found my calling."
When asked what the most rewarding part of her job is, Dr. Biden told the magazine, "There is nothing like helping students find their confidence and begin to use their voices, or seeing that spark light up in their eyes the moment a concept falls into place."
References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/07/us/politics/jill-biden-teaching.html
https://people.com/politics/jill-biden-returns-to-the-classroom-to-teach-in-person-college-classes/
https://time.com/6094046/jill-biden-educators-essay/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a37198717/jill-biden-teacher-experiences/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Chip Somodevilla
