How does a Longwood education inspire one teacher to become a lifelong learner, field scientist, school founder, author, and professor while continually finding new ways to positively disrupt education?

In this inspiring episode of Longwood GradCast: Beyond the Degree, host Dr. Sarah Tanner Anderson sits down with Dr. Becky Schnesker (B.S.’05, M.S.’06), a double Longwood alumna, educator, National Geographic educator and explorer, author, school founder, and doctoral graduate, to explore a journey shaped by curiosity, relationships, bold ideas, and people who believed in her long before she could see where those ideas would lead.

Becky’s Longwood story began before she was even sure she wanted to attend. After her parents encouraged her to visit campus, she found something that felt different from the beginning: a community where people noticed one another, offered help, and made her feel at home. That feeling only grew as professors, friends, and experiences shaped not only the educator she would become, but the person she would become.

One relationship in particular would change the trajectory of her life. Dr. Jones recognized something in Becky early on, challenged her to do more, encouraged her to pursue graduate study, and planted the seed for a doctoral degree decades before she was ready to pursue it. A handwritten note on one of Becky’s assignments saying, "This is PhD caliber material,” became a message she carried with her for years.

After earning her master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction in Special Education, Becky took what she learned at Longwood directly into the classroom. She embraced collaboration, new instructional strategies, and approaches designed to meet learners where they are. Over time, that foundation expanded far beyond the classroom as she began asking a bigger question: how can education have a greater, more positive impact?

That question led Becky to places she never expected to go.

From helping open a tuition-free school for low-income families in Norfolk to writing Expedition Science, Becky has continually pursued opportunities to rethink what education can look like. Her classroom has stretched from traditional school walls to the Amazon Rainforest, Antarctica, Iceland, and beyond. She has pursued grants, built relationships with scientists and educators, and brought field-based experiences back to elementary students, showing them that science is not simply something found in a textbook, but something alive and all around them.

Her Amazon journey began with a conference, a conversation with National Geographic explorer Andres Ruzo, a Twitter direct message, and a grant application Becky wasn't sure anyone would fund. It became the first of many experiences that would reshape her teaching and open new possibilities for her students and fellow educators.

Throughout the episode, Becky returns to one idea again and again: curiosity matters, and people matter. Mentors who open doors, colleagues who say yes, students who inspire new questions, and unexpected connections that become lifelong relationships can all become part of a much bigger story.

Now, as an assistant professor of education at the University of Akron, Becky is bringing that same philosophy to a new generation of educators. Through preparing pre-service teachers and partnering with the I PROMISE School, she hopes to give future teachers the confidence, skills, and perspective to see possibilities instead of limitations and to become educators who positively disrupt.

In this episode, listeners will explore:

• How Becky went from being unsure about Longwood to seeing it as an integral part of who she is
• The professors and mentors who recognized potential in Becky before she recognized it herself
• How her Longwood master's degree shaped her approach to teaching and collaboration
• Why Becky believes education should account for the whole human being, not simply academic standards
• The story behind opening a tuition-free school for low-income families in Norfolk
• How a conference connection and a Twitter DM eventually led Becky to the Amazon Rainforest
• Why she believes elementary students are capable of far more than we sometimes expect
• How experiences in the Amazon, Galapagos, Iceland, and Antarctica transformed her teaching
• Why "curiosity is free" and how curiosity can become a foundation for learning
• The importance of asking for opportunities, even when the answer might be no
• How Longwood gave Becky what she calls the "power of and"
• The full-circle experience of mentoring a Longwood pre-service teacher in the Amazon
• Why Becky chose a doctoral program that felt like "my next Longwood"
• How her experiences as a teacher, explorer, and learner are shaping her work with future educators
• Why she believes ideas are never "too weird or too big"

At the heart of Becky's story is a simple but powerful reminder: you never know where a connection, an opportunity, or one person's belief in you might lead. Her journey demonstrates what can happen when people are willing to ask, explore, try something unconventional, and keep going when the answer isn't immediately yes.

Subscribe to Longwood GradCast: Beyond the Degree to hear more stories of alumni whose lives and careers demonstrate the enduring power of people, curiosity, connection, and opportunity.

Listen now: longwood.edu/gradcast