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Malisa Cawood had
an experience in 2006 that changed her life.
After her first semester at Dalton State, Cawood decided that
she wanted to live away from home for a while and discover what
life as a missionary would be like.
She joined an international Youth with a Mission team and was
sent to Melbourne, Australia, for twelve weeks of training
through a Discipleship Training School, followed by two months
of mission work in China.
“I came back from that experience feeling even more focused and
driven about want I want to do in life,” she says, stating that
she is 100 percent committed to entering the field of teaching.
“It was the greatest experience of my life. It has given me a
passion for different cultures and for traveling. I would love
to teach in another country one day.”
Before her mission trip, the native Daltonian, a 2005 graduate
of Northwest High School, had planned to attend Dalton State for
two years and then transfer to Georgia State University or
Kennesaw State to complete her bachelor’s degree. |
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But over the course of
her nearly two years here, minus one semester, Cawood says she
has realized that she has no desire to leave.
“I’ve discovered that when students get involved in intramurals
or any other club or activity on campus, they tend to have a
great time here. That’s what happened to me.”
While Cawood admits that she was not overly involved in
extracurricular activities at Northwest High, she has jumped
into student life at Dalton State with both feet.
Working more than 19 hours per week as a student worker for the
Student Activities office, Cawood has also served as a Student
Orientation Ambassadors and Recruitment (SOAR) leader, as the
new President of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM), and as
the College’s first student blogger on the DSC website.
“I enjoy writing and have really loved my English classes at
Dalton State,” she says, noting that blogging is something that
feels very natural to her.
In her first blog, Cawood admits that “the things that I do may
not appeal to the whole student body, but there are many other
clubs, activities, and trips offered for a variety of different
student interests.
“I’ve been selected to be the guinea pig student blogger. I am
excited about this opportunity and I can’t wait to enlighten the
Dalton State student body or prospective students with my
fun-filled life! So come along for my DSC journey.”
Her journey includes completing one more year of pre-requisite
courses before entering the College’s Early Childhood Education
program, which, if all goes according to plan, will be next
fall.
“I would really like to teach middle grades students – that’s
where my passion lies,” she says.
She plans to earn an “add-on” middle grades certification after
completing her ECE degree.
“And I may go back for my master’s in English at some point,”
she says, “which would qualify me to teach grades K-12.”
While in school here, Cawood has enjoyed all of her classes,
particularly those offered through the division of Humanities
and Social Sciences.
“I am finding that I am very interested in anthropology and
psychology, partly because of my trip to Australia and China.
You learn a lot by being around other cultures. There’s so much
to learn in the world – more than we sometimes realize.”
For now, Cawood’s immediate world centers around school, church,
and work, but in the future, she expects to travel beyond our
borders to teach and do mission work around the world.
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