Tatiana Gandolff in a classroomFlorida native Tatiana Gandolff attended Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, after high school. But Tatiana quickly determined traditional learning wasn’t for her and returned to Florida to earn her bachelor’s online while she began a career in early childhood education.

“I loved learning but I hated being in school,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m one of many in an online program; it’s more individualized in an online setting.” While her time in Alabama didn’t last very long, she was here long enough to realize she had to pick a side: Alabama or Auburn. She picked The University of Alabama and has been a fan ever since.

After teaching for over 10 years, Tatiana decided she wanted to expand her knowledge and learn how to better connect with her students. When she heard UA had a program with a learning and assessment concentration, she was sold, and she began pursuing her Master of Arts in Educational Psychology — Learning and Assessment through The University of Alabama’s online program.

“There’s not a lot that I do on a daily basis where I refer back to my undergraduate training,” said Tatiana. “However, from my master’s I have a lot of practical training. What shapes my philosophy of education came from what I learned at Alabama.”

Tatiana Gandolff teacher spotlight posterBefore earning her master’s, Tatiana was an elementary teacher at a private school in Miami. She said breaking into the public school system is hard to do in Miami, but that having a degree from UA helped her stand out among other applicants and landed her job as a fourth-grade math teacher at a public charter school.

“Once I finished up at Alabama and I put that on my resume, I felt like it opened a lot of doors,” said Tatiana. “I had about four job offers at the end of the summer that I graduated.”

Tatiana notes that the rigor of the program was different from any other school she had attended. During the Educational Psychology program, she began pursuing a second master’s degree in Reading Education online from a private school. “There’s a big difference between the rigor and what I was able to learn. Alabama set the bar pretty high in what was required of me,” she said.

Tatiana also said the professors were another significant difference between Alabama and other schools. Though they challenged her with hard work, they also allowed her the flexibility needed to balance her coursework with the rest of her life.

Tatiana Gandolff and children“The staff at Alabama is just second to none in every department,” Tatiana said. “It’s a testament to the people of Alabama, and I think everybody kind of knows that there’s a big difference between Alabama and everyone else.”

When Tatiana graduated in August 2019, she made the trip to Tuscaloosa for the first time to participate in Commencement. She and her stepdaughter both fell in love with campus, and her stepdaughter even wants to attend UA after high school. Half-joking, Tatiana said, “If she ends up going to college there, we’re all moving.”

Tatiana is in the process of writing a book about her time teaching private school and still hopes to pursue a doctoral degree so that she can educate the next generation of teachers. She said she’ll always treasure her time in The University of Alabama program and how it shaped her philosophy of both teaching and life.

“I strive to have that Alabama attitude wherever I go.”


Published: August 30th, 2020