Senior Rachel Lowe holds family and happiness close to her heart as she pursues a career in education.

Lowe is an English major and teaching and learning minor, who plans to become a teacher in the future. While some students may hope for bigshot careers, Lowe’s biggest goal is that of peace and kindness.

“I want to be happy, like truly happy. And not have any financial stress. And I want to be known as someone who was kind,” she said.

Coming from a military family, her family was never really settled. Lowe grew up “all over Arkansas.”

“My dad was active duty in the National Guard, so we moved around every two-ish years.”

Her mom, however, stands out as the most important figure in her life, and her most ardent family tie.

“She is the strongest person I know, and I love getting to spend time with her,” Lowe said. “She is literally always there for me when I need her, and since I have become a sort-of adult, I really understand where she was coming from when I was a teenager. I really love her a lot.”

She even chose UCA to be close to home, although her dream university was all the way in Hawaii at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

Although she doesn’t get to see her family quite as often, she does make lots of time for her friends — including her fiance John, who she’s known since eighth grade.

“We have known each other for a long, long time, and he just gets me. He makes me feel loved and beautiful. He’s been my biggest supporter forever.”

Lowe joked, “A young wife I am to be,” in response to her young age and engagement.

Academically, Lowe’s passion for teaching shines through her favorite elements of the classroom dynamic.

“I love listening to my classmates share their interpretations of the text. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher,” she said. “Everybody has had different life experiences and you can see this in the way they view a text. I find it really cool to watch.”

Her biggest hurdle, as most English students would agree, is the sheer number of reading assignments one can accrue.

“Sometimes the amount of reading for one class is quite a bit, and it’s hard to keep different classes straight.”

When she’s not in class, you can find Rachel working in UCA’s veteran services office, or at home playing video games. 

“I’m usually playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons or Genshin Impact in a Discord call with my friends,” she said.

Although her education is soon to wrap up, Lowe mentioned assistant history professor Juan Maefield as influential in her academic career. 

“He’s a really cool dude. He structures his classes really well and has helped me sort of come out of my shell,” Lowe said.

Her parting piece of advice to other students — “Skipping is a slippery slope.”