Jill Fedun, Class of ’16
Jill’s passion for writing and literature allows her to be the best version of herself in the classroom. Unsure of what to do after undergrad, Jill went back to school for teaching and joined Stony Brook’s MAT Program, where she still maintains contact with her classmates and applies what she’s learned in her classroom today. Now an English teacher at Roslyn High School, Jill advises future English teachers that to be successful in what you do, you must love what you do: “You have to put your neck on the line for something you love.”
Could you describe what a typical day at your job is like? What is the best or most satisfying part of your job?
I teach three sections of ninth grade and one section of AP Language, and I am also a strive teacher. I also direct the musical and the play, so I’m usually busy after school doing that. I’d say the most fulfilling part of my job is when the kids and I are in class, and we’re annotating and talking about a passage, and all the students are engaged. When they’re writing things down, bouncing ideas off of each other, and talking about what it means, I sometimes think to myself, “I can’t believe this is my job right now, that this is what I get to do.” Secondarily, when I’m directing the musical and the play, I love it when the students are finally on stage performing. It’s so lovely to see the fruits of my labor in action, and the students are so confident in what they do.
How has your experience in the English Department and Teachers Education Program helped you in your current career?
Firstly, I think we have the best Professors in the MAT Program. They were very realistic about what the job would entail, preparing us to create student-centered lessons and reminding us that it’s important for there to be rigor. I feel like everyone who went through the same Program felt ready to be a teacher by the end of it. Stony Brook did a fine job at cultivating us to be who we were supposed to be, and I really like that.
Where did you Student Teach? What led you to choose that District?
My mentor told me about a friend she had in West Islip and said that I’d love to work with her. I had a great experience. I taught eighth grade, and my cooperating teacher was lovely. She was very hands-off, which I thought was good. Since the first day of school, she had me teaching the classes, and of course, she’d give me pointers here and there, but she truly let me go through trial and error, which I think was great.
What advice would you give to current English majors at SBU who are interested in a career like yours? (What should they study or do at this point in their education?)
To be a successful teacher, especially an English teacher, you have to be well-read in the sense that you genuinely love literature. You have to put your neck on the line for something you love, and secondly, you have to make sure that you know your stuff. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed in the hiring process. Make sure your resume and cover letter are solid. But I think just the love of what you’re doing tops everything.