Education student aims to give back to the high school that shaped her

For Ariana Rabinovich, going to school was sometimes awful, even traumatic, until she found a home, and an inspiring teacher, on a new high school campus But it was on a familiar campus — Metropolitan State University of Denver — where she found an unexpected but meaningful career choice: teaching.

Some of Rabinovich’s favorite childhood memories are of growing up in Denver around the Auraria Campus while her mom attended Metropolitan State University of Denver — still Metro State College at the time. Those early experiences shaped how she saw college long before she started thinking about earning her own degree. “MSU Denver was kind of always an option in the back of my mind for where I wanted to go to college,” she said.

Now, Rabinovich is an award-winning student, set to graduate this month from MSU Denver with a degree in English with a concentration in Secondary Education.

She credits the influence of North High School English teacher Heidi DeBernardi with setting her on the path to becoming a teacher. DeBernardi encouraged Rabinovich to transfer to North, which changed her education experience.

“I also had some really, honestly traumatic experiences in my K-12 education,” she said. “My senior year, I transferred to North High School … and North kind of changed my entire life,” Rabinovich said. There, Ms. DeBernardi “told me that it would be quite a disappointment if I did not become an English teacher because she felt that I would serve the field really well.”

Rabinovich wasn’t convinced.

“I fought her on it,” she said with a laugh. “I was originally a biomedical sciences major.”

Rabinovich enrolled at MSU Denver as a part-time student. During the pandemic, a combination of life circumstances and health challenges forced her to pause her education. That break ultimately became a turning point.

“I realized that my passion did kind of lie in teaching and writing and research as far as the English field goes,” she said. “And so, I shifted in that direction.”

That realization also was shaped by her own experiences as a student. “I felt like my whole purpose in life has always been to make a difference for others. Teaching felt like one of the best ways to do that.”

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When Rabinovich returned to MSU Denver after the pandemic, she saw the University in a new light. What stood out most was the network of resources and the support system available to students — something she hadn’t fully explored before.

She credits those resources, along with faculty mentors, with helping shape her experience and success. She became more involved on campus and discovered spaces such as the Honors Program, Rowdy’s Corner, the Counseling Center and the LGBTQ+ Center.

“I started getting more and more involved,” she said. “If I found one resource, it led me to more resources. It kind of spiraled in a really positive way.”

That involvement undoubtedly helped her win the School of Education’s spring 2026 Outstanding Student Award.

Through that involvement, Rabinovich found support and a sense of belonging, something she now hopes to create for her future students.

She aims to become the kind of educator she once needed: someone who fosters an inclusive, engaging classroom where students feel seen, supported and empowered to succeed.

And she hopes to do that in the place that helped shape her — North High School, where she is completing her student teaching.

“I want to just serve the community that really changed my life for the better,” she says. “For me, I love having classrooms that are as diverse as possible.”

She also is working toward an endorsement in culturally and linguistically diverse education, which will allow her to teach English language learners.

“That’s something I’m really excited about,” she said.

But she’s not finished with her own education yet. She plans to return to MSU Denver this fall to pursue a master’s degree in Curriculum Design and Instruction with an English education concentration.

Her journey has come full circle in many ways. The campus that once felt like a familiar place thanks to her mother’s experience has now become her own foundation for the future.

And that MSU Denver tradition in her family continues to grow. Her younger sister is now a first-year student studying pre-nursing.

For Rabinovich, that legacy is not just about where she studied, but about what she plans to do with that education: give back, create space for others and make sure no student feels overlooked in the classroom.