Audrey Sanderson

Audrey Sanderson
Photo by Beth Wynn

As she prepares to enter her senior year, Audrey Sanderson of Birmingham, Alabama, recently took a moment to reflect on her time at Mississippi State.

Sanderson said both her parents are MSU alumni. "Although I wasn't pressured, I still made the decision to come here, and I've loved it," added the Shackouls Honors College member and President's List Scholar.

An elementary education major, she recently completed her early-block preparatory at Fair Elementary School in Louisville.

This summer, Sanderson is enriching her studies through a research fellowship with Kathleen Alley, an assistant professor of curriculum instruction and special education in the College of Education. The opportunity to work with Alley resulted from inquiries she had made about receiving honors credit, she said.

"I'm really excited about my fellowship and the chance to learn firsthand from real teachers what it's like in the classroom," Sanderson said.

In Alley's workshops on Science and Social Studies Integration with Literacy and Technology for Teachers, she will be reviewing and transcribing accounts of classroom experiences.

Alley praised Sanderson for being "an excellent researcher" whose achievements are such that "I am encouraging her to publish her work."

In addition to academic pursuits, Sanderson is active in a number of campus organizations, including Chi Omega sorority, Reformed University Fellowship and Student Association.

As a member of the SA Senate, she represented the education college. During the spring semester, she was honored by her elected peers with the SA's Senator of the Year Award.

Sanderson said she "can't believe my senior year is so soon, but I'm looking forward to my teaching internship and continuing this incredible path to become an educator."