An English teacher who balances both teaching multiple grade levels while obtaining her master’s, a dedicated animal lover with a total of fifteen pets throughout her life, and a person who spends her time creatively writing, sketching, or baking at home with her dog, Hamilton. How can Ms. Hynes juggle her hobbies, school, and teaching?

Growing up, Ms. Hynes always dreamed of being a teacher. During her interview, she described going to the teacher supplies store with her parents at the age of five and teaching her sister in ‘school’. Her family is composed of Irish and Colombian heritage; her great-grandparents and grandpa were immigrants. Her father was a detective and now works in security, and her mother was a town clerk and helped at home. She attended the Pelham K-12 school for all her years of education, experimenting with over five sports, including soccer, volleyball, tennis, competitive swim, karate, and softball. She also participated in cheerleading in her junior and senior years. These sports led her to many high school injuries; however, she wasn’t only engaged in sports. Ms. Hynes was a quiet student who enjoyed writing creatively. She was also a Girl Scout from kindergarten to senior year. One of her most memorable moments was travelling to Guatemala to help bring supplies to the orphanages in the area. She travelled with her best friend, who was also adopted from Guatemala, making the project even more meaningful for their troop.

Ms. Hynes attended SUNY Oswego as an undergraduate and is now attending Buffalo Online School for her master’s due to teaching every day at BXV as an English teacher. For her undergraduate studies, she double majored in adolescent education and English. She is now obtaining her Literacy Master’s. Although she did not enjoy reading until age twenty-one, her first favorite book series was Harry Potter. Her current favorite author is Kristen Hannah. She hopes to get her PhD and eventually potty train her dog Hammy, who is 8 months old. She plans to volunteer at her local animal shelters and continue to do one creative thing each day.

Overall, Ms. Hynes helps remind those around her that it is never too late to juggle our passions with our responsibilities.