MA+ Graduate Hannah Kaiser found her own path to a college in the mountains

As an eighth grader growing up in Carson City, Nevada, just a short drive from Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Hannah Kaiser had dreamed about attending CU Boulder ever since she had searched for colleges in the mountains and saw the Flatirons in the backdrop. 

Kaiser's path didn’t include the same turns and route her thirteen-year-old-self had hoped for, but as she now graduates from CU Boulder, she finds herself gaining strength from Mary Oliver’s question in the poem The Summer Day — “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Kaiser knew she felt a strong calling to make a difference, but she wasn’t quite sure of where it would lead her. After her first year of college, Kaiser started working at the same summer camp she had attended throughout her childhood, and would continue to return after each year of college. It was Kaiser’s time on staff where she realized her “place for positive change was working in a community dedicated to the growth and well-being of young people.” 

Her passion for literature and language led her to pursue a career as a secondary English Teacher through the MA+ Teacher Licensure program.

Faculty and mentors who worked closely with Kaiser commend her ability to build meaningful relationships with students fosters a learning environment where all feel valued and encouraged, demonstrating an exceptional commitment to teaching through innovative classroom practices and strong instructional leadership, which ground her nomination as the 2025 Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award.

Kaiser can imagine pursuing a PhD in the future, but for now, she’s excited and proud to join the ranks of a long line of educators in her family that stretches back at least four generations. Grateful for the friends she’s made while planting her roots in Colorado, Kaiser is looking forward to investing in the growth of her students and community here in the Front Range.

In her words:

1) Please tell us a bit about yourself?

 I grew up in Carson City, Nevada, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a short drive from the beautiful shores of Lake Tahoe. At the start of college, though I knew I wanted a career working in community to make a difference in the world, I was unsure what path this purpose would lead me towards. The summer after my freshman year, and every summer of college following, I worked at the summer camp I had attended from elementary through high school. Through my time on staff, I realized my place for positive change was working in a community dedicated to the growth and well-being of young people. Rooted in this knowledge and my passion for literature and language, I decided to pursue a career as a secondary English teacher. 

University of Colorado Boulder’s MA+ program, which unites a master’s in education and teaching licensure program with a focus on justice and equity in education, was my dream program. It united my interest in social justice, an interest that almost led me to a career in civil rights and international human rights law, with my passion for education, all at the base of the breathtaking Flatirons. 

I love Colorado and I love teaching, and I am excited to continue to develop my roots in this wonderful state as I pursue a career I love."

2) What is one of the most significant lessons from your time at CU Boulder that you’ll carry with you into the next chapter of your life?

 Mary Oliver asks using “The Summer Day.” Oliver asks “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?,” and it is answering this question that I can best distill my most significant lessons from my time at CU. 

I carry both a value of delayed gratification and a sense of joy that comes from the surprises of the journey. University of Colorado, Boulder had been my dream school since I had googled “colleges in the mountains” in eighth grade and got my first glimpse of the Flatirons. To be graduating from CU with a master’s degree is the fulfillment of a dream deferred. Looking back, even though my path here did not take the turns I thought it would as a thirteen-year old, I walk forth with a sense of strength, and an even greater appreciation for the opportunities and joys that come in this wild and precious life."

3) What does graduating from CU Boulder represent for you or your family/community?

 I come from a long line of public educators stretching back at least four generations. Joining their ranks fills me with a sense of possibility, responsibility, and joy. I look forward to investing my life in the lives of my students, and growing into an educator and person who will bring my community joy."

4) What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?

 Build. Your. Community. I cannot reiterate this point enough. I moved in July to pursue my degree, knowing I wanted to build my life in Colorado without actually knowing what that life could look like or who would be in it. I wouldn’t have made it through graduate school or the beginning months of planting my roots in a new state had it not been for my community, both the community I am building here in Colorado and that I bring with me from all across the miles through phone calls and weekend visits.  

It won’t always be easy. Building relationships in any capacity is a vulnerable endeavor, but ultimately it is these relationships that will sustain you and bring you joy. It was CU and the mountains that brought me to Colorado, but it is the community I am lucky enough to have built that will keep me here."

5) What are your next steps after graduation?

 After graduation, I am excited to continue to grow into an active member of the Boulder-Denver community through a career in secondary English education. In the future, I can imagine pursuing a PhD, likely researching social emotional learning and trauma pedagogy at the secondary level.

I am excited to continue to grow my roots here in Colorado, spend some time out on the trails running and hiking this summer, and I can’t wait to see where my path takes me next."