As the kids sit around a rug on the floor with toys spread out everywhere, they pretend to be doctors, policemen, and much more. Erin Jenson can’t help but have a smile on her face. She enjoys watching the kids interact with one another, enjoys playing with them, and enjoys seeing the crazy things their imaginations come up with.

Right before all this, the school bell rung to signify the end of the school day. Jenson went straight to work at the Highland High Daycare, where she works almost every day after school. At the end of her shift at the daycare, Jenson might have dance or music on top of her homework she got assigned in her IB classes that day. To some this schedule might seem overwhelming and difficult, but to Jenson, she completes everything on her schedule with hard work and determination.

This same attitude of hard work and determination allowed Jenson to earn the Sterling Scholar Family and Consumer Science award. Family and Consumer Science deals with the things that make a family work, child development, cooking, and clothing design. Specifically, Jenson got her award in the child development section.

“I have taken child development, and all the classes needed to get the CTE medallion,” she said.

Jenson has a passion for working with kids, as she works at the daycare, took child development, and babysits. She even went with her church group on a service mission recently to northern Idaho and loved working with the kids there.

Her love for kids and their love for her is evident when she is at work at the daycare. Her boss and director of the daycare, Lily Flowers, raves at how much the kids all adore her.

“The kids definitely love her,” Flowers said. “There are kids who have her as a favorite for sure.”

At work, Jenson is helpful, proactive, caring, loving, and can always make the kids laugh. She likes working with the kids because she can see them grow and develop over time and has been able to become close with some of them over the past two years. Working at the daycare has also allowed her to feel like she can just let go and act crazy around the kids without them judging her. She feels very comfortable around them, and they feel the same with her.

These attributes and the relationship between Jenson and the kids described above are what makes a career involving children an easy choice for Jenson.

“I always joke that my dream job would be to become a preschool teacher,” she said. “As of now, I really love children and would love to have a job working with them. I would maybe like to become a pediatrician.”

Despite her busy schedule involving school and work, she does find time to do one of her favorite things: reading.

“I like to read a lot of books, because it’s fun,” she said. “You get to forget what’s going on in your life for a minute.”

Reading is Jenson’s way of taking a break from her busy schedule. She works very hard, so reading is her way of winding down.

Some of her other favorite things, when she takes a break from all of her hard work, are hanging out with friends and family. She is very close to her family, and credits her parents for helping her achieve success in her life thus far.

“My parents have most impacted my life,” Jenson said. “They have always been there to help me out.”

She might think her parents have impacted her life significantly, but Jenson has taught more to them than she knows. She has taught them to keep working hard at stuff and to never give up.

“Erin has taught me a lot,” her dad Dave Jenson said. “She has taught me to keep going in hard situations and to work hard in everything I do.”

Jenson has been fortunate to have a great support system behind her, such as her parents, pushing her every step of the way, helping her achieve greatness. Her mom, especially, has played a huge role in her life.

“My hero is my mom, because she is a lot like me,” Jenson said. “We have gone through similar challenges, so I feel like I can look up to her and see how she has gone through those challenges to learn from them myself.”

With a strong support system through her family, Jenson is determined to keep working hard and is planning on going to college after graduation. She isn’t quite sure where she wants to go yet, but wherever she decides to go, her passion for kids and her hard work ethic will lead her to great success in her life.