Stephanie Daniel
Associate Professor of Education and Early Childhood Development
I grew up here in Richmond, Virginia as an only child. Growing up, I was the neighborhood big sister which was a lot of fun. I would take the younger children in the neighborhood out to play at the community playground. I think that's when I knew I would one day work with young children.
What brought you to Reynolds?
A year after graduating high school, I enrolled in the Information systems technology program at Reynolds, while also working at a childcare center part-time. After my first semester, I changed my major to early childhood development, and I have been in the field ever since.
You are a "New Face" at Reynolds. What were you doing before coming here?
Before becoming a full-time faculty member, I taught as an adjunct for 12 years. While also teaching as an adjunct, I worked with several different organizations and agencies, with CAPUP, formerly known as RCAP being my last job before joining Reynolds full-time.
As an Associate Professor what are your greatest rewards of teaching? Greatest challenges?
My greatest teaching reward is seeing learners excel in a field I am so passionate about. I love being that support system that helps learners make it to the end of the semester even when they thought they weren't going to finish. In my 12 years of teaching, I can't think of any challenges. I guess when you love what you do, you don't really see the challenges that someone else may see.
What do you like to do when you aren't working?
I love spending time with my family, shopping, playing basketball with my husband and son, and loving on my two beautiful grandkids. I have also added writing children's books to things I like dong when I'm not working.
What is your favorite book, movie, or TV series, and why?
My favorite book is the "Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfisher, my favorite movie, is "Look Who's Talking," and my favorite TV series is NCIS. I'm a big kid at heart and still love all things early childhood. The "Rainbow Fish" book teaches little ones how to be a friend, the movie "Look Who's Talking," is my all-time favorite because it focuses on the life of a little boy from conception to about one year of age. It confirms all of what we are teaching in our ECE classes. As for NCIS, I love trying to figure out who did the crime before the end of the show. Also, I love special agent Gibbs. I'm kind of sad that he isn't on the current season, but it's still a TV show I watch on Monday nights.
If you won $100 million in the lottery what would you do with the money?
The first thing I would do with $100 million is to tithe 10% and give an offering to my church, payoff all my student loans, provide scholarships for students who can't afford to go to college so they don't have student loans once they are done, develop and fund sites for the homeless, share a little with family and close friends, and invest some. I'm pretty sure there are other things I would do with the rest of the money, but it's best to start with baby steps.