After eight years, California State University, Bakersfield student Jennifer Paulsen is leaving the university after earning her teaching credential this semester.
Paulsen transferred to CSUB from Bakersfield College in 2014 and went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, all while juggling work responsibilities and being a single mother to her 10-year-old son Jeremy, who was just a toddler when she first started at the university.
“I’m really excited to be done. It’s been a long journey,” she said. “This has been the end goal.”
Paulsen will soon be able to put her degrees to use. She has been hired by the Kern High School District as a dual-enrollment history teacher for the upcoming school year at Foothill High School. Through dual enrollment, students can earn college credits while completing their high school requirements.
“It was a pinch-me moment. It felt like I was in someone else’s dream,” she said of first hearing she was hired. “I was in a class when I found out, and I had to hold back the tears because I’ve been working for this moment for so long.”
Paulsen has held several jobs on campus at places such as the bookstore and the Graduate Student Center. However, she said she sometimes had to use financial aid or take out loans to be able to pay her bills.
“No longer do I have to worry about how I’m going to pay for rent, how I’m going to provide for my son. All these doors are finally open,” she said.
Paulsen benefitted from several scholarships that helped her achieve her educational goals at the university, including a CSUB Alumni Association Scholarship, Carl E. Miller Memorial Scholarship and Dorothy Jane Jones Memorial Scholarship.
“I will forever feel incredibly honored to be among the scholarship and award recipients of CSUB. The accomplishments have instilled a sense of honor and humility that I will carry with me, always,” she said. "They helped reduce the stress and worry I constantly carried with me. It helped me to meet my financial obligations so I could focus more on my son and my studies.”
Paulsen had initially considered just getting her master’s and being a professor at the community college level, but one of her professors, Dr. Alicia Rodriquez, thought she would be a good K-12 teacher and encouraged Paulsen to pursue a single-subject teaching credential.
“I’m pleased to see that she has found her calling as a high school teacher, and that in August she will begin teaching at Foothill High School,” Dr. Rodriquez said. “Foothill is fortunate to gain such a caring, supportive and thoughtful teacher. I’m very happy for Jennifer, and for the students she will work with at Foothill.”