Kenji Mori

What made you decide to pursue teaching?

I actually started off thinking I wanted to be a lawyer and majored in poli-sci. I worked as a paralegal after college and while I learned a lot, I realized I wasn't really interested in serving major corporations. I looked back on my life and thought about what I had gotten the most out of and and what I wanted to leave behind and realized it all came down to education.

Why did you choose UChicago UTEP?

I had an education class in college that I loved, so I actually called the professor and she recommended UTEP to me. I knew I wanted to work in an underserved community, and I was really impressed with the amount of preparation UTEP gave its students and how it had this specific focus on the Chicago Public Schools.

What have you carried from UTEP throughout your career?

Being a reflective practitioner is probably one of the biggest things I've taken with me from UTEP. We were taught to constantly analyze our practice and think about what we were doing and what we could change. It's something I find essential to the profession. By consistently looking at ourselves and our behaviors, we create the strongest learning environment for our students.