Instagram

Shay Quitno was terrified. She couldn’t sleep. It was her first day ever of teaching a class after graduating from GCU last spring. Quitno shared those feelings on Instagram, a project by the College of Education to chronicle the first year of a COE graduate in hopes that aspiring teachers and others can see what it’s like and learn from it. “Life with Shay” has been a social media hit. Quitno had more to say (and film) on a recent day in her classroom at Hermosa Vista Elementary School in Mesa, where it was evident her training overcame rookie teacher anxiety.

GCU College of Education students are learning a lot these days. “Wow, this is what my professor does outside of class?” asked Emily Sharp, a COE student worker who helps assemble video clips for a faculty and staff Instagram story feed. One story recently showed a professor getting on his bicycle, another at poolside. It’s all part of an expanded social media effort in COE to put a face to education.

Students are the top priority at GCU, of course, but that ideal is shown in many ways. One of them is web shows featuring students talking about their time at the University, and the latest one is “Living as Lopes,” which aims to give current and prospective students insights into the many activities on campus. “I feel like it’s a really cool opportunity because it shows our genuine lives, but it also shows that we’re all so different and unique and we all love such different things that it just shows from different perspectives what you can do, what the options are,” said Hailey-James Hines, one of several “Living as Lopes” cast members.