UNO Education Student Builds Trust One Name at a Time

Before she ever stepped into a classroom, Arlene Garcia was already a teacher, just without the title.

As the oldest of three, she had become a natural caregiver, and soon found herself bouncing between roles. One moment she was hunched over a kitchen table, walking a younger sibling through long division, and the next she was holding hands and looking both ways before crossing the street.

Her lessons weren’t scripted, and her classroom had no walls, but even then, she was practicing the art of guiding, comforting, and showing up.

Garcia has always had a natural affinity for helping others. Originally, nursing felt like a natural path, a hands-on way to care for others and give back to her community. It wasn’t until Garcia got a high school job at a local daycare center that everything shifted.

“That first job that I had was honestly what shaped my mind and future, that I wanted to be a teacher, because it was through that experience I was actually able to see what teaching is like and how that was really my calling, and that was, like, my ‘aha’ moment,” said Garcia.

Now a senior at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), Garcia is majoring in elementary education with a concentration in English as a Second Language (ESL), along with minors in Spanish and Latin American Studies.

As a student of UNO’s College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS), Garcia is gaining hands-on classroom experience through her advanced practicum, where she recently completed a placement in a fourth-grade classroom at a Millard public school. It’s one of several practicum experiences she’s completed, each offering a deeper understanding of what it means to lead a room, manage behavior, adapt instruction, and most of all, connect.

For Garcia, the goal was never to be just another adult in the room. She wanted to be someone her students could relate to, rely on, and remember for years to come.

In this latest practicum, Garcia challenged herself to take on more full-group teaching and grow her classroom management skills, all while making time for the personal moments that often matter most.

Garcia starts every school day the same way, by greeting her students by name on purpose. Not just repeating them from a roster or reading them from laminated tags, but memorizing them, saying them out loud with care, and practicing them like a promise. For her, it’s a foundation of trust and a quiet ritual of recognition that sets the tone for everything that follows.

“Having that relationship made it easier when I had to redirect them or call on them during group work. I could just use their name, and that’s such a big thing people don’t always realize. Having that connection is such a small thing that makes a big difference,” said Garcia.

Her practicum placement only strengthened her commitment to making an impact on her community. Working with multilingual learners across grade levels, Garcia discovered a love for one-on-one and group instruction, spaces where she can tailor support, build trust, and celebrate growth up close. It’s where she sees her impact most clearly, and where her students seem to see her most clearly too.

By the end of the term, her students responded in the way kids do best, with honesty, affection, and artwork. They drew her portraits, curly hair and all. They pointed out that she wore makeup every day and told her they liked it. They said she was funny. They said they could tell she was herself. And for Garcia, that was everything.

“Something I’ve learned from my time at UNO is to just be yourself, and I plan to do that in my own classroom. Through all my practicums and chances to lead or speak about my experiences, I’ve become a more confident learner and teacher,” said Garcia. “Now when I’m in front of students, I can really connect with them—because they can feel your vibe, like if you’re nervous or not. And if you’re being yourself, they’ll build that relationship with you, and you will grow together.”