Amanda Bukowsky
Amanda Bukowsky’s, BA, BEd, MEd, journey to teaching was never a straight line.
“My path had its ups and downs,” she reflects. “Different experiences in my life really shaped the direction I took.”
She traces her decision to become a teacher back to a handful of educators who went above and beyond when she needed support most. She remembers an English teacher who had a great sense of humour and an ability to connect with students. She also credits her math teacher, who made himself available during lunch hours and before and after school for students who needed extra support. Math didn’t come as naturally to her as other subjects, but if her teacher made it clear that if students were willing to put in the work, he would show up for them.
“He always checked in. He met me where I was, as long as I was willing to work,” she says.
These teachers modelled the kind of educator she had hoped to become — and today, she carries the same philosophy into her own classroom by encouraging students to seek extra help whenever they need it, and making clear she’ll meet them there.
“I thought, if I could be that safe person for even one student, it would be worth it.”
After completing her Bachelor of Education and working multiple jobs while trying to secure a teaching position during a hiring freeze, she received an unexpected email: Would she consider teaching in China?
“I was terrified,” she laughs. “But some of the best things in my life have happened when I let go of needing to control every detail and just said yes.”
Within weeks, she found herself in Dalian, on China’s northeastern coast, a stunning city where she would wake before dawn for runs along the oceanfront and, on warm nights, enjoy swimming in water that light up electric blue with bioluminescent algae.
She taught at an all-girls class through the thick heat of summer, navigating new cultural norms and leaning into the unknown. But it was the relationships forged there that shaped her most deeply. Her teaching peers, students and the local community welcomed her.
“I made really deep connections with the other teachers as we spent a lot of intentional time together, and really got to know each other’s stories,” she says. “Through this experience, I learned and deepened my understanding of the value of showing up for my colleagues and students on a human level.”
On evenings and weekends, she and a colleague hired a driver and travelled whenever they could, exploring as many sites as possible, including walking the Great Wall.
“Had I not let go of fear and just said yes to the adventure, I wouldn’t have had the experiences I did or made such beautiful memories,” she says. “The experience taught me how important it is to be willing to be vulnerable. I learned to just embrace new experiences, and to face things that are unfamiliar by being fearless and leaning in.”
After returning to Canada, Amanda continued teaching across elementary and secondary grades before stepping into an inclusive education coordinator role, a position she held for nearly a decade. It was during this time that she returned to UBC Okanagan to pursue her Master of Education.
She decided to choose the capstone route over a thesis to allow for a deeper, more reflective process as her project focused on the relationship between trauma, identity, self-awareness, and professional praxis. The project became what she describes as a “labour of love.”
“I realized how much my personal experiences were influencing how I showed up at work every day,” she says. “I was a workaholic. I said yes to everything. There was this constant need to prove myself and keep everyone else happy. I prioritized work over everything at the expense of personal balance and peace. Now, I still care deeply. I work hard, and I am passionate about what I do, but have healthier boundaries.”
The lessons she learned through her graduate work now directly inform her daily practice. Courses in trauma studies and embodiment shifted how she understands students, and how she understands herself in the room. She now approaches regulation and support with greater intentionality. It begins with awareness — checking her own baseline, noticing where she is holding tension, and how is her baseline shifting as the stressors come up throughout the day.
“Kids’ nervous systems mirror ours,” she explains. “You don’t always have to speak to effectively co-regulate.”
In fact, one method she uses in her classroom to help regulate a student involves no words at all.
“For some students who have experience physical trauma, being in their body doesn’t feel safe,” she says. “Consequently, asking them to focus on their body and do a body scan, may not work well for them. Instead, I use embodiment techniques, and draw upon the practices of attunement, and proprioception to ground myself. I might slow and deepen my own breathing. Their eyes will take that information into their nervous system. The student’s mirror neurons then create a bridge of sorts as students and their nervous system naturally start mirroring what I’m doing and down-regulate with minimal to no verbal intervention on my part.”
Reflecting on her time in the program, Amanda says the most meaningful aspects were the space to think about her identity as an educator and the faculty who supported her journey.
“It solidified for me many of the aspects of my practice that are my North Stars —what guides me in what I do and why I do it,” she says. “I can’t say enough good things about the faculty and the program. I chose to work hard and what I put in is what I got out of it, but the way staff and faculty show up for students really made the experience.”
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In recognition of her work, Amanda received both the Vicky Green Award and the Outstanding Capstone Project Award. While initially hesitant to share the news, she’s learned to celebrate the accomplishment.
“When I actually sat in it and took time to breathe and soak it in, it felt amazing,” she says. “It’s recognition for all of your hard work, but it’s also giving yourself permission to say, ‘You worked really hard.’ And I think it’s a celebration of the people who showed up for you and supported you along the way.”