April Smith was recognized as the Spring 2011 Outstanding Student in Early Childhood and Elementary Education at University of Alabama, Birmingham

While students are expected to know their career track by the end of high school in preparation for college, some people take an alternative route to the job of their dreams.

April Smith of Moody began her college career with aspirations of being a professional flutist. But when life changed her path, she followed the road to somewhere she hadn’t dreamt of before.  

After a stint as a stay-at-home mom with three young children, April not only completed her degree — a double major in Early Childhood and Elementary Education at University of Alabama at Birmingham — but was recognized as the Spring 2011 Outstanding Student for that program, as well.

The Outstanding Student achievement is awarded to a student in the top one percent of each degree program, taking into account the student’s overall standard of performance, including their character, attitude and quality of work as far as how they apply their subject matter to real-world practice.

It’s a small token of recognition for the large amount of work that April and her family have put into helping her follow her dreams to being an elementary school teacher.

Her true calling: April was a student at Auburn University after she graduated from high school. A flutist, she was studying music performance, and while she loved playing, she didn’t feel it was her true calling. “Sometimes, you just feel like you’re not on the right path, and you get lost.”

She started teaching an extended day program to pay the bills, and realizing that teaching was she was really passionate about.

Being a mom and a student: April planned to return to school after moving to St. Clair County in 2007, but delayed it after realizing she and her husband, Don, were expecting another child in 2008. Finding the balance between being a mother and being a student was more difficult than she anticipated.

“I loved school and I loved being a mom, so my battle was really in being the best at both of those. I’d feel guilty about ignoring my kids to study, so I’d go and spend time with them and feel bad about not studying to spend time with my kids. It’s hard to be the best student and the best mom at the same time. You really don’t realize when you’re single and you don’t have kids how much easier school is, because you have more time you can devote.”

Outstanding Student award: “My first thought was, ‘Me? Are you sure you have the right person?’ There are so many girls that I have so much appreciation for. They maintained their grades, they kept up with their jobs and they did really well in school. They were in honor societies, all these sororities — I’m just a mom and a student. Why do I deserve this?”

Graduation day: “I kept waiting for them to say I didn’t fill out some random form so I couldn’t actually graduate. When I walked in, I didn’t expect the sentiment or emotion that I was going to feel. I thought I’d be so excited, but I saw my family looking at me, and all of a sudden it hit — I’m about to graduate. The thing that our whole family has worked hard for — my husband and my children and myself, we’ve all made sacrifices for this — the sentiment finally hit and I could feel that lump in my throat and those tears about to come out. The excitement and the sentiment was all mixed up into one.”

Advice to her own children: “Finish college before you get married, because you have more time to be more involved and enjoy social aspects that you really can’t do as a married-with-children adult. I want them to enjoy college, not to struggle with it. I hope these last few years will give them some sort of appreciation for the hard work that’s involved.”

The future: “From the moment we’ve moved here, I have loved St. Clair County. For me, teaching isn’t just a job, but a community service. We’re preparing St. Clair County for my kids. I want to be a teacher so I can teach children to be problem-solvers, because they’ll be running this community someday.”

While she’s certified to teach preschool through sixth grade, April said third- through sixth-graders are her favorite age group.

“I love the little grades, but [third- through sixth-graders] are just coming into the ability to think abstractly. I absolutely love doing discussion groups with them.”