It wasn’t necessarily a sure bet that Sophia Comose would become a teacher. But the odds were favorable that she would, considering that two of her siblings and her mom are educators, and one of her favorite childhood Christmas gifts was a teacher kit.
“I would line up my dolls and stuffed animals and have my siblings be students in a pretend classroom,” she says.
From kindergarten up, Comose attended public schools in Chapin, South Carolina, where she participated in Chapin High’s Teacher Cadet program. “I shadowed a kindergarten teacher my senior year. I knew that was the right path for me,” she says.
Still, Comose had a moment of doubt about majoring in education after beginning college at a small school in South Carolina where she played lacrosse.
“It just wasn’t the right fit for me, and I kind of didn’t know if I really wanted to be an educator,” says Comose, who took a gap year after her freshman year to work full time in early childhood and preschool education. “I ended up really falling in love with it again and applied to USC’s Palmetto College.”
For Comose, growing up in a large family cultivated a sense of independence at an early age. She loved the idea of working full time while earning an education degree online from Palmetto College, which offers 24 online degree programs.
“After my freshman year, I didn’t feel a need to have an on-campus college experience,” she says. “I was ready to start my career, and I loved working.”
“What I especially liked was that Palmetto College was not a hand-holding experience. It was like, ‘We’re going to treat you as a professional,’ because a lot of the people in my program were adults who had kids or were coming back to school later in life.”
Up until her senior year when student teaching rotations began, Comose worked full time at St. Peter’s Catholic School and St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields Episcopal Preschool in Columbia while taking classes.
“I’m a very independent thinker, and I enjoy being able to work at my own pace. I like to figure things out on my own, but there were times when I had to reach out to professors by email and they were very quick to respond. I could also reach out to my peers on a group chat, and they would often have the answer to my question.
“What I especially liked was that Palmetto College was not a hand-holding experience. It was like, ‘We’re going to treat you as a professional,’ because a lot of the people in my program were adults who had kids or were coming back to school later in life.”
Comose completed her practice teaching and graduated in May 2025, then landed a teaching position at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Charleston, where she teaches fifth- and seventh-grade social studies and sixth-grade religion.
“It’s been so smooth. For a first-year teacher, it’s a piece of cake right now, which not many first-year teachers can say,” Comose says. “Having the experience of teaching early childhood during my undergraduate studies, I don’t even feel like a first-time teacher.”
Her advice is straightforward for prospective students considering an online degree program such as those offered by Palmetto College:
“Make sure you have a planner to stay organized, particularly if you’re working full time. Problem solve on your own, be confident in your work and think independently — don’t second guess yourself too much, and remember it’s OK to make mistakes. You’ll learn from them and learn more about yourself when they happen.”