Citrus Valley Teacher Feature Q&A: Ms. Young

By BRANDON SAGLAM

Nicki Young or Ms. Young, as she is known by her students, is a teacher at Citrus Valley High School. Young teaches World History and AP Human Geography. She has enjoyed many travels and plans on many more. She also adores her students, who she thinks of as her own children.

Question: What inspired you to be a teacher?

Young: I worked for a winter as an Outdoor Naturalist at a science camp for 5th graders in the mountains, and I really enjoyed the kids and their enthusiasm. I also love the challenge of getting people to enjoy learning new things.

Q: What do you enjoy most about teaching?

Young: My students and the creative outlet it lets me have.

Q: What fascinates you about geography?

Young: When I first started traveling I realized how little geography was taught in my education. It is pretty much absent in American curriculum. I realized how much I was missing out on understanding and connecting the relevance of just about everything. Geography is a subject that connects everything and there isn’t one topic you can find that geography isn’t a part of. I really like teaching it and it’s exciting for me when my students start seeing all the connections and feeling empowered through their mastery of it.

Q: What was your most memorable trip and why?

Young: This is a really hard question. Living with the Akha and Karen Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand will always be one of my favorites. They speak their own languages and live completely sustainable and off the land. We hiked for 2 days just to reach them. Language is never a major barrier, and I learned so much. I also really was impacted in my recent trip to Cambodia. To see the corruption first hand and the impact of global economies on less developed countries was a real lesson for me.

Q: What do you enjoy most about traveling?

Young: The people I meet and seeing how things work. I also like the challenge of being somewhere that I don’t speak the language.

Q: Do you have any upcoming trips?

Young: Yes, I am going to South America for my first time over Spring Break. We are hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Pichu.

Q: Do you have any pets?

Young: Yes! My four-legged children, Bodhi and Duncan! They are the best dogs ever.

Citrus Valley is grateful to have a teacher who cares so much about her students and devotes most of her life to them. Ms. Young is constantly going out of her way to ensure that her students are learning in a safe environment and are having fun while doing so. Thank you, Ms. Young.