MC welcomes Dr. Sarah Young and nine other faculty members
By Jacey Goetzinger \ Oct. 20, 2026
This year, MC has welcomed 10 new faculty to campus, including Dr. Sarah Young in the Education department.
Young discussed her background and journey to MC: “Getting into education started in my undergrad work. I was taking a psychology class, and I did an internship with the college’s early childhood development group, which was for preschool. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I went to school, but after I did that internship, I loved it.
“I always knew I loved working with kids, but then my professor saw me working with the kids and asked if I’d ever thought about education, and then that was my path after that; it was fantastic.
“I come from a long history of working in the general education setting,” Young said. “I was a classroom teacher for grades 2-4, and then I started doing a lot of leadership work and taught some classes adjunct, and I was a dissertation chair, so I knew I liked working at the higher level and supporting adult learners.
“I’d been looking for the past couple of years after I finished my doctorate. I knew I wanted to go into higher education, and I made that jump into higher education just this year, so that’s what brought me to Maryville. I really love the small campus feel and the one-to-one support I can offer my students.”
Young recounted her experience during her first few weeks at MC interacting with students and faculty members, “I really love the students and the faculty that I’m working with. Just this morning, I was walking in, and there was a student who was pretty far ahead in front of me, and he stopped and waited until I got to the door, and that was very purposeful. He could have just continued on, because he was pretty far ahead of me, and there’s just that politeness and also the desire to learn; that students really love being here and want to go the extra mile to do well,” she said.
The biggest concern that Young wanted to address for students was that her door “is always open, even if it’s shut because I’m trying to keep the heat in. You don’t have to be in our program. Like my advisees, I want them to know that my door is open for them and that you’re not alone. There are many resources here at the college, and people care about you. They want you to succeed, and if you’re feeling alone, just reach out to folks. We’re here to help you.”
To the students in her program, Young gave her advice on how to succeed as an educator.
“I would really like to give the advice that [future educators] are not alone, and that we’re stronger as a team. Draw on the strengths of the people around you and learn from them, and also let your gifts shine too, and spread those and help others grow. Something you might be strong at, you can support someone who might struggle with that skill, and vice versa. You’re not working in a silo, and sometimes I think we, as teachers, feel like we need to handle everything by ourselves, but we don’t. Collaborate as a team and rely on each other for support.”
Other new faculty this year include Dr. Maria Taydem in the Natural Sciences department, Dr. Kyle Vratarich in the Humanities department, Swarup Paudel, Dr. Annie McGhee and Dr. James Bosco in the Social Sciences department, Rachel Littrell and Dr. Sarah Yancey in the Languages and Literature department, Gordon Medd in the Health Sciences & Outdoor Studies department, and Tanvir Hossain in the Mathematics & Computer Science department.