Kipp Trieu’s family wanted him to go into medicine, law or engineering—a profession that would’ve made them proud. But he followed his heart instead, and for the past six years he has been a kindergarten and first grade teacher. He hasn’t looked back.
Working with others and helping them learn always made him happy. Career-defining moments happen all the time, he said, which is what he loves about teaching children. A student finally begins reading fluently. Another remembers that six plus six is always 12. Yet another remembers that it’s okay to be who he or she is as long as it’s safe for her and those around her.
“I’m a lifelong resident of the Silicon Valley, so I live among some of the wealthiest people in the nation,” said Kipp, a candidate for a doctor of education (EdD) degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. “But I’m fulfilled in what I do. Education is my calling. It’s my creative outlet, and it’s what gets me up in the morning.”
His desire to learn more about his profession and for more professional development led him to the EdD program. He likes the rigor of the online space, the School of Education’s world-class faculty and the opportunities afforded by Johns Hopkins’ national network.
“I am part of a unique learning community of outstanding professionals in their chosen fields,” said Kipp. “The strength of the EdD program is the diversity of the people and the occupations they represent. It allows us to stretch each other’s thinking, and it provides unique points of view.”
Kipp is considering work in educational policy or curriculum and instructional design, something that will allow him to continue instilling in students and perhaps eventually other educators the mindset that learning takes place over a lifetime.
