Traci Lowe, or “T Lowe,” as she’s affectionately referred to by her students, is a Florida State Alumni who has become a wonderful teacher and forensics coach in West Palm Beach.
At FSU, Lowe spent most of her time hanging out with friends or hitting the books, and of course attending as many football games as she could. She lived mostly off campus during her time here, except for one “grueling” semester in Salley Hall with a roommate she simply claims she’ll “never forget.” She talks about her fond memories of going to Guthrie’s and waiting in the line around the corner, and being able to see the Krispy Kreme hot sign from her dorm window—things that Collegiettes today are probably still dreaming of and drooling over. In her senior year, Lowe picked up the work-study program as part of her financial aid and began working in the English Department’s office. She did everything for the people in the department: taking messages, answering phones, delivering mail; she took care of it all. But from doing this, she got to know her professors really well, so she got to see the teaching community and experience from the inside, which contributed to her dream of becoming a teacher.
Lowe graduated in 1997, after taking some time off and flipping around decisions of what she wanted to be, ranging anywhere from fashion designer to lawyer. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature with a minor in Communications and decided to stick with the profession that she knew she wanted to go into all along: teaching. Lowe explains that although she had a hard time deciding in college, “My goal was always to be a teacher. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”
After graduation, Lowe was a substitute for a year, then worked at a middle school for a while until she got her first real teaching job in 1999. She was a teacher for middle school students who had behavioral problems or problems with the law, and basically worked with a few other teachers on these select students in what she refers to as a “drop-out prevention program.” Lowe explains that she was scared when she started, just because it was her first time really teaching, but she loved the kids, and watched them all get put back into the regular class, seeing them grow as individuals.
Then, Suncoast High School, a magnet school in Riviera Beach, hired Lowe. She was just there to teach English, but the school’s debate coach was retiring, and Lowe’s superiors instructed her that whether she liked it or not, she was taking over that job as well. At first, Lowe hated debate. She had to go to a camp during the summer to learn all the rules, and every Saturday to a tournament that would last from 7am-5pm. Lowe felt like she was giving up her personal time, but her superiors insisted because she was so young that she was the only logical choice.
However, after a few years, Lowe noticed something. The students were so supportive of her, even though she was new. Frequently they’d have to show her how to do things, like register students or fill out ballots, but they never complained. “I had good kids who helped me,” Lowe explains. She began to truly care for these students, and really got into it once she saw how happy it made them, and “the excitement they felt, the anticipation, the winning!” When they would all travel out of state to go to compete at colleges, she knew some of her students had actually applied to those universities, and she got to see them seeing the schools of their dreams for the first time; the excitement and hope in their eyes. Lowe claims, although it may be cliché, that “I would have left a long time ago if it wasn’t for the kids.” Now, in the years that have passed, Traci Lowe has been given the award of Florida Forensic League Coach of the Year twice, once in 2010-2011 and again in 2013-2014.
Now I may be slightly biased because she was both my teacher and coach for all four years of high school, but I think Ms. Traci Lowe is a good role model for any student reading this who really wants to be a teacher. And the best part is, she gained a lot of her knowledge and felt a lot of her drive here at Florida State, and I hope the readers who do want to become teachers here in the future see that it is possible and rewarding.
Ms. Lowe not only bettered my speaking skills, my writing skills and my leadership skills, but she made me feel like I could do something with my future. She made me feel like I was coming home when I walked into her classroom, and that’s the feeling you can only get when you have a teacher who really wants to be a teacher, and who really wants to be there for you, which I think truly makes her one heck of a Campus Celeb.