A New Chapter: Meet Ms. Loriz
The start of the new school year welcomes the chance to make new memories, friends, and learn new experiences. This year, MLEC also welcomed a surplus of new teachers. Among them was Jasmine Loriz, a new English teacher.
This is Ms. Loriz’s first time teaching high school, having been a middle school teacher in Orlando. She stumbled upon the position after moving to Miami in hopes of being closer to family.
“I think I was a little nervous at first. I’m not gonna lie. But really, once I got through my intro and everything and got to meet the students, all of my students so far are really good kids. So I’m enjoying it,” she said.
As she settles into her new role, Ms. Loriz is excited to explore the possibilities that come with teaching older students. She looks forward to introducing her classes to new activities and experiences.
“Definitely, I’m looking forward to having a Socratic seminar and being able to have kind of like an in-depth open discussion with my students, kind of like critically analyzing text and novels,” she explained. “When I was with middle schoolers, you know, they weren’t able to read novels or anything like that yet.”
Her decision to teach English came after an unexpected shift in her career path. Originally on a pre-med track with plans to become an OB-GYN, she realized after her first year of college that science was not where her passion lay. The pandemic prompted her to reflect on her future, and she found herself drawn back to her long-time love for reading and writing.
“I thought I wanted to be an author and went into publishing,” she said. “But now, for right now, teaching, honestly, I’m really happy with where my life led me to do this.”
Although transitioning to a new school can be overwhelming, Ms. Loriz has found a sense of community in the MLEC English department. She describes her colleagues as welcoming and supportive, which has made her adjustment to the high school environment much smoother.
“The English department here is so phenomenal. I love all of the other teachers that I work with, and they’ve been super supportive and helping me get adjusted here,” she said.
Beyond her classes, she hopes to inspire students who have an interest in creative writing and publishing. During her own college years, she participated in two literary magazines, which she describes as one of her most rewarding experiences.
“I’m really interested in getting to know any students who are possibly, like, wanting to go down a creative writing path, either with publishing or as authors,” she said. “If there’s any way that I can help mentor students towards that, I’d love to be involved.”
For now, Ms. Loriz is focused on building strong connections with her students while embracing the opportunities this new chapter has brought.
