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Vallarie Pratt is a
direct descendant of Native American Cherokee Indians who used
to roam freely in northwest Georgia.
So it comes as no surprise that the 33-year-old Chatsworth
native is fascinated by anything having to do with history,
particularly the Civil War era and beyond.
“My maternal great-grandparents came from a large family of
Native Americans who lived around here years ago,” says Pratt, a
1994 graduate of Murray County High School.
“I remember being a little girl and listening to her tell
stories about her childhood,” she recalls. “Grandma Crow liked
to tell the story about how her mother gave her a permanent so
that her straight black hair wouldn’t look so different from the
other little girls’. But she hated it, so Grandma Crow stuck her
hair in a mud puddle so the permanent wouldn’t take.”
Pratt’s mother, who is one-quarter Cherokee, used to take her
youngest daughter to the Chief Vann House and area Civil War
sites as she was growing up, activities which helped stimulate
her interest in history.
And while she says she’s always enjoyed school, and for years
dreamed of becoming a teacher, Pratt admits that she took a
“backwards” approach to coming to college, choosing to get
married and have kids first. Once her sons, Ryan, now 14, and
Ethan, now seven, were both settled in school, Pratt and her
husband Shaun decided it was time for her to enroll.
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“I’m a first generation college student, so it was a big deal for
my whole family when I decided to come back to school,” says
Pratt, who plans major in history. “I used to resent the fact
that I didn’t go right out of high school, but I think waiting a
while has helped me become a more successful student.”
And succeed she has. To maintain her 3.9 grade point average,
Pratt finds that she’s spends much of her free time studying,
coming into the Derrell C. Roberts Library several hours before
class to prepare for the week’s assignments.
“I’ve found that with having children and going to school, I
have to be extremely disciplined about making the time to study.
It’s essential for me to do well. I treat studying for school as
if it were my job.” Having worked in area classrooms as a
substitute teacher for many years, Pratt feels confident that
teaching is the right career for her.
“I have a deep respect for teachers,” she says. “My first
long-term subbing job was in a disorder behavior classroom.
That’s when I knew for sure how rewarding it is to see kids
progress over the course of a school year.”
Her future goals include teaching history on the middle school
or high school level. “With history, I think it’s important not
to just have the kids memorize the dates of important events and
battles, but to approach the subject as if you’re telling a
story – almost like a biography. That can make the subject come
alive.”
Since she came to college more than three years ago, Pratt says
she has enjoyed all of her classes, finding that her professors
have been helpful and approachable.
“They all give you plenty of opportunities to ask questions, and
they’re able to give you real life answers,” she says.
In her World Civilization class, she enjoyed learning about the
Egyptian practice of mummification so much that she decided to
use that topic as the basis for a speech in her Communications
1101 class.
When Pratt is not taking classes or studying at Dalton State,
she spends time taking care of her sons or assisting her
husband, a flooring installation business owner and area
assistant pastor of a small Cleveland, Tennessee church.
She also enjoys being with her extended family: her mother,
father, two sisters, and nieces and nephews, including one
niece, Melissa, and one nephew, Corey, who attend Dalton State.
“I have loved my experience at Dalton State,” she says. “I
quickly found out once I started here that I prefer a small
school, especially one that is good with non-traditional
students, like me. I have benefited from a really strong support
system here. It’s been a great experience.”
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