‘Victory Dance’: Moreland Grad Lands Dream Job
| by Hannah Sparling
If Miya Hourani ever doubts she was made to be a teacher, she takes out the letter she carries in her wallet. It’s handwritten, from a former student.
“Miss Miya,” reads the last line, “if it wasn’t for you, I would not be breathing today.”
That’s what teaching is all about, said Hourani, a 2024 graduate of Moreland University’s Master’s in Educational Leadership program.
“I can’t simplify it any more than that,” Hourani said. “It’s the fact you are in a position to affect and change a life.”
From Radio to the Classroom
Hourani, who is Lebanese, grew up traveling with her family. They lived in Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, and then Lebanon, where Hourani graduated high school. She initially wanted to do radio voiceovers, so she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a master’s in audio-visual performance and journalism.
She finished her master’s in 2014, and then — nothing.
“I was jobless,” she said. “I wasn’t making any money, and I sat there for like six or seven months.”
Eventually, a friend called and said, “I’m so sick of your whining,” Hourani said. The friend told her there was an opening for a native-English-speaking teacher a short drive from where Hourani lived in Lebanon. The friend had sent in Hourani’s resume, and the interview was the following week.
‘What If I Fail?’
Hourani taught 8th grade English that first year. She had no idea how to be a teacher. She had no idea how to plan a lesson or implement a curriculum. But her students motivated her to learn and improve, she said, and she fell instantly in love with the classroom.
When she made mistakes — a regular occurrence as a new teacher — she owned up to them. That was part of the learning process, she said, showing her students how to take responsibility.
“Kids are kids, and they know when you’re being genuine and real and trying and when you’re not,” she said. “The classroom was the only place I felt, as an individual, where I could truly be myself and I wouldn’t be judged.”
Hourani went from that school to the American University of Dubai, where she got a job in the provost’s office. She missed the classroom, though, so she went back to Lebanon to teach for a few years. She earned her teaching diploma through the University of Balamand and then got a teaching job at the Universal American School of Kuwait (UAS), one of the schools she had attended as a student.
By the time she got to UAS, Hourani knew her long-term goal was to move into school administration. She wanted to stay close to students but expand her impact, and she shared that plan with her UAS mentor, Dr. Chris Passons. Passons told her about Moreland University and encouraged her to apply for the master’s program. “What are you waiting for?” he asked.
“I’m scared,” Hourani said. “What if I fail?”
But she pushed past her fears, applied, and in November 2024, she graduated from Moreland with her Master’s in Educational Leadership.
A New Perspective on Education
Moreland opened Hourani’s eyes to education through multiple lenses. And she loved the hands-on nature of her master’s program, which helped the lessons sink in.
“Was it stressful? Absolutely,” she said. “Was it condensed? Absolutely. But it shifted my perspective. It gave me a different set of eyes. It’s not just Miss Miya the teacher who’s looking at things, now it’s Miss Miya the leader, who has a very different perspective.”
Moreland has “the most amazing instructors,” Hourani said — knowledgeable, supportive, and understanding — and she learned a ton from her classmates as well. Moreland’s global cohort model, where she studied with students from around the world, was one of Hourani’s favorite parts of the program.
“I’m very proud to be a graduate from Moreland,” she said. “It really is one of my greatest achievements.”
‘Just Like You’
On her fridge, Hourani tapes up letters from her students, reminders of her ultimate purpose in education.
From one letter: “If I ever decide to become a teacher, I hope I can be just like you.”
From another: “You helped us when we needed you. Thank you for turning Language Arts into something beautiful…”
And then there’s the letter Hourani keeps in her wallet. “If it wasn’t for you, I would not be breathing today.”
Hourani met that student over a shared Kinder bar. It was a 6th grader who had recently lost her father, and one day during recess, the girl walked into Hourani’s room and asked if she could just sit in silence. The two didn’t know each other, but they sat quietly and ate chocolate.
Hourani had the girl in her class in 8th grade and then again in 10th. When Hourani was leaving the school for her job in Kuwait, the student wrote that letter as a thank you.
Two years later, when the girl graduated, she asked Hourani to walk beside her.
‘Let Me Do My Dance’
The day after Hourani submitted her final assignment to Moreland, she got a notice from UAS’s internal system that there was an opening for an assistant principal at the high school. At first, she thought nothing of it, but Dr. Passons encouraged her to apply.
She went through the interview process and then tried her best to put it out of her mind. She had just completed her master’s program and knew the job was a long shot. If it didn’t work out, there would be other opportunities.
On October 29, she got a message: The superintendent and assistant superintendent wanted to see her. When she got to the room, Dr. Passons was waiting on a video call. He was traveling in the U.S. for work, and it was the middle of the night for him, but he had made the assistant superintendent promise to call him for the meeting.
“Miya saw me on camera,” Passons said, “and she just started laughing and tearing up.”
Then they told her: She got the job. Next school year, she’ll be the assistant high school principal.
“I did a whole victory dance,” Hourani said. “They just looked at me, and I’m like, ‘Just let me have my moment. Let me do my dance.’”
Earn your professional certification or master’s degree with Moreland University. Moreland is fully accredited and 100% online. Our no-cost application takes less than 15 minutes to complete.
