“Teaching Was Always My Path”: Alum Yisel Morales ’23, MAE ’24 reflects on growth and mentorship
Image: Morales gave a speech for the incoming class during the Convocation ceremony on Sept. 2, 2025, in Olson Auditorium. Steeped in rich tradition, the ceremony is designed to welcome new students and faculty as well as to recognize new appointments, achievements and honors. (PLU Photo / Sy Bean)
By Britt Board
Assistant Director of Communications
When alum Yisel Morales ’23, MAE ’24 took the stage at Pacific Lutheran University’s 2025 Convocation, she spoke to hundreds of new students about beginnings, growth, and finding purpose. “The English Department saw me grow up,” she says. “Going from 18 years old all the way through graduate studies…that was five years of my life. They didn’t go easy on me; they challenged me.”
She earned both her Bachelor of Arts in English and her Master of Arts in Education from PLU. “I already knew about the MAE program’s reputation. The professors are really strong,” she says. “I also loved that it’s a one-year program.”
That connection with her professors — and the community that surrounded her at PLU — helped her discover a calling she didn’t see coming when she first enrolled at PLU. “I came in as intended nursing,” she says. “I was failing my classes, and I realized that nursing was not for me.”
When she began to struggle in her early classes, she turned to English Professor Rona Kaufman for support. “I told her I needed somewhere to go, and nursing wasn’t it,” she says. “She said, ‘Go where you feel happy.’” That advice changed everything. “Teaching was always my path,” Yisel reflects. “I knew, but I didn’t admit it to myself for a while. On some level, I always wanted to be an English teacher. Books have always challenged me to think about what matters.”
Now, Morales teaches 9th and 11th grade English in the Highline Public School District, where she’s sharing her lifelong passion with her students. “Paul Sutton emphasized relationships,” she says of her MAE professor. “He advised us to spend time getting to know your students. They’ll tell you more than you’d imagine, and you’ll learn who they are beyond the classroom.”
“Teaching was always my path. I knew, but I didn’t admit it to myself for a while. On some level, I always wanted to be an English teacher. Books have always challenged me to think about what matters.”
Her journey might have looked different if not for the 253 PLU Bound Scholarship, which opened the door to her college education. “I was so excited. I thought, ‘I can actually go to college,’” she remembers. “My parents never went to college, so I didn’t know much about it. Coming from my background, I couldn’t believe it.” She remembers getting a message directly from someone from PLU’s Admision office who explained each scholarship and encouraged her to apply — “That made all the difference.”
Looking back on her time at PLU, Morales says what stood out most was how much people genuinely cared about each other and their chosen paths. “It was nice to nerd out with people who wanted to be here,” she says. “They weren’t just going through the motions.”
For students considering their own calling, Morales offers powerful advice: “Follow your heart. If you’re not happy where you’re at, it might not be a problem with you — it might be the things you’re doing. Talk to someone. Talk to a professor or mentor you trust. Make sure you’re pursuing a path for the right reasons.”
