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Decades before Heather Povinelli became one of California’s top educators, she nearly gave up on her dream of becoming a teacher.
Povinelli (’22, doctorate in education), who has dwarfism, loved being in the classroom and enrolled at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa with her sights set on pursuing an education degree. However, she switched her major to sociology after an incident on a playground.
I was observing a kindergarten class as a part of my observation hours for my teaching program. During recess, a student came up and grabbed me hard. I didn’t know what to do, and it scared me,” Povinelli recalled. “I drove back to campus and changed my major. My mother cried because she always wanted me to be a teacher.”
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