Sometimes a teacher makes a lifelong impact on her students, and sometimes that student becomes a teacher. Serenity Salser, Cohort 11, grew up along the coast of Georgia and attended Georgia Southern University, where she studied Music Education and Clarinet Performance.
Though at one point, Serenity wasn’t sure she would continue pursuing education.
“My middle school band director and my high school band directors really influenced me,” she recounts. “I went into school thinking ‘Oh yeah, I’ll become a teacher because of these role models in my life.’ Then in my second year, I was so fed up, so I went to the saxophone professor and wanted to change my degree to just performance. I told her I just wanted to practice, and she sat with me and encouraged me to keep music education, since just performance isn’t a practical degree. She re-refreshed me, and made me realize that I can do this.”
Thankfully, Serenity stuck with it. Her senior year she taught at a nearby high school and fell in love with the work and students. God then led Serenity through a providential set of closed doors and encounters as she neared graduation.
“Originally I had applied for FOCUS, but one of my really good friends, who also applied to FOCUS and is now a missionary, had mentioned Seton Teaching Fellows once, and she was trying to figure out which she was going to do,” Serenity explains. “I had pushed it to the back of my mind, and then I got invited to a FOCUS interview weekend, and met another person between Seton and FOCUS. I didn’t get an offer from FOCUS, but in my heart, I just felt that Jesus was still asking me to live a life of mission and Seton came to the forefront of my mind because of my student teaching experience, which was happening at the same time.”
As Serenity considered Seton Teaching Fellows, her path became increasingly clear. “I’d had the opportunity to tell some of my kids about Jesus and it’s such a joy to see them grow and conquer mountains, so I thought, ‘Alright, I’ll just apply!’” she recalls. At first, Serenity thought her Seton Teaching Fellows interview had gone poorly; she was late, had a tipani-playing student in the background, and didn’t have any sense of how it had gone.
“I thought it went so badly, but Jesus knows me,” Serenity says. She describes her graduation day – the day she received her acceptance to Seton. “I went to daily Mass, I went to Jesus. I asked, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, just help me.’ That afternoon right when my graduation started, Kayla Kellar had emailed me and gave me the offer.” The decision to come teach was clear, and Serenity’s prayer had been answered!
Jesus has continued to love Serenity through her work with Seton Teaching Fellows, where she teaches orchestra at Brilla Veritas Middle School to fifth to seventh graders with her co-teacher. Serenity has been excited to teach orchestra and thrived under the guidance of her lead teacher.
“It’s been really good!” says Serenity. “I’m so lucky to have a lead teacher who’s such an expert and knows the content.”
As a teacher, Serenity realizes the deep importance of teaching music to her students and the joy and tool that it is in their lives.
“We want to show justice to these kids, and they’re performing at a high level in their academics. But if that’s all you do, that can be quite stressful. If you see the kids as a number, that’s also stressful. Having an outlet to express your creativity is important because music is so full of emotion,” says Serenity. “You can be creative and have fun. It’s part of a classical education; they have an opportunity not everyone has.”
The fruits of this education are clearly seen in Serenity’s students. “We have quite a few kids who are really good and have only been playing for three years. Some have been offered scholarships for private lessons, which is a great opportunity,” she says. “We’re playing a piece right now for The Bronx Music Festival that I can’t play. It’s so hard, and they’re going to teach me to play it!”
Aside from teaching, Serenity has dedicated herself to growing within the community and formation of Seton Teaching Fellows. “It’s definitely been a journey for me. I come from the South. I’m in the Army National Guard. I’m used to doing hard things, but moving to New York has been the hardest,” she reflects. “The year itself has been so good, so transformative. It’s crazy to reflect on how the Lord showed Himself to me and how patiently He waited for me. First, what it means to be obedient; I feel like that was my Fall semester. Now, He’s asking, what does it mean to live in poverty? Both in community and in The Bronx.”
Despite the challenges of the year, Serenity has grown in her reliance on the Lord and in allowing Him to work through her. “All I can teach is what I see in front of me. I can’t change reality, but I can change the way my heart sees it. Even though it is hard to love , I can choose to love. And there’s so much freedom in that, and in letting God work. I can’t do a single thing; I give it all to Him. He wants us to love others; that’s what Jesus wants. I’m ready to love them, even if they don’t want to be loved.”
No matter where next year takes her, Serenity wants to continue to live life on mission. “Not everything is going to change at once. It’s definitely a journey, and you have to be open to receiving everything and offering it up to God,” she reflects. “It’s not easy but once you embrace freedom, your world just opens up.”
