🎓 #ILLINOIS2019: Brittany Frieson, PhD Brittany’s first day on campus was not as glamorous as others. It was her first time moving outside of her home state of North Carolina and she missed her family and familiarity. She remembers calling her mom after her first class, begging to come back home as she was sure she made a big mistake. Her mom just laughed and told her, “I didn’t send you 800 miles to quit. Dry them tears and get to reading those books!” Today, Brittany says it’s surreal and humbling at the same time to think back to those first few days on campus. “When I walk across the stage, it will be a very emotional moment for me thinking about my journey.” That education journey started in fourth grade with Ms. Honeycutt (pseudonym) who once told her, “you can’t write how you talk” in an attempt to silence her voice as a native AAL speaker. From that moment on, Ms. Honeycutt became her motivation to conduct research that pushes back against normalized literacy pedagogies that ...