It isn’t every day when we get to feature someone from Wilde Lake, though when we do, it usually isn’t for what you’d expect. With that, it is our honor to introduce one of OMHS’s many student interns for this year. Mikayla Lee went to school here in Howard County. Though she’s not an alum of OMHS, she went to Wild Lake High School and is very familiar with our community. 

Lee grew up in a family with five siblings. “We tend to bicker a lot,” Lee claimed, “but we are very close and spent a ton of time together growing up.” Although Lee was based here in Howard County, she moved here at the tender age of two from Ohio. As of now, Lee claims she wishes to visit her family down there if she had a plane ticket to go anywhere in the world, though the pandemic had made it impossible for that to happen at this time.

With regards to her education career, Lee claims her biggest accomplishment was getting a scholarship to go to McDaniel College. What made her scholarship even more awesome is that in exchange, she received a contract to teach here in the county for three years. Lee cites it was the late Laura Wallen that inspired her to get the scholarship. Sadly, Ms. Wallen was tragically murdered back in 2017, but even after then, Lee was still inspired by her to keep going. “…after her death, I was even more motivated to impact other students the way she impacted me,” says Lee.

Aside from academics, Lee was also vested in her school’s basketball team. She played AAU basketball during her time at Wilde Lake. She claimed her team really wasn’t the best but had fun playing on the all-female team and saw it as a great way to stay in shape. 

When it came to her internship, Lee claimed it was an interesting experience. She says she’s learning a lot from our journalism advisor, the lovely Ms. Katlyn Moore, though she also claims that the student teaching process has be challenging. “It’s a little stressful,” she admitted. While she sees teaching that way, one thing she does miss as a student is her school community and being offered support. Though, as a teacher, Lee claims she’ll still have the community as she’s teaching in the same school system she was taught in. Before interning at Oakland Mills, Lee was interning at Marriott Ridge High School. Lee claimed her schedule at Marriott Ridge was packed, having to prepare for the day, driving From McDaniel to Marriots Ridge, then coming back home. Tentatively, Lee is set to intern at Lake Elkhorn Middle School, though she also sees other teaching jobs in her future.

Aside from teaching, Lee enjoys writing. She mainly writes poetry but is also vested in journalism. In addition, Lee is a very avid reader. Currently, she is reading Just Mercy, which tells the story of a lawyer destined to challenge the law and how it works.

When it comes to philosophy, Lee believes in leaders that are vocal and fearless. “I define leadership as someone who is brave enough to share their ideas without (the) fear of being judged,” she said. “That’s how innovation and creativity happens!” Lee says she’s learning to become more of a leader, and she believes that everyone should think about what makes them passionate and excited, and “that is the path they should take.” 

As a new chapter in HCPSS history begins, Lee is excited for her teaching career and the fact that she’s empowering many young minds alike. “I look forward to making new connections and supporting others as well.” And with that, Mikayla Lee, welcome hOMe.