By Derrick Smith

Teaching is a career that carries a lot of influence. Everyone can look back to when they were younger and think of a teacher that made an impact on them. Amanda Autry says that is a big reason why she is a teacher today.

“Teachers and coaches were always influential in my life and I looked up to them,” she said. “There were also a lot of teachers in my family. So to say that teachers influenced my life would be an understatement.”

As a first year teacher at Oklahoma Bible Academy, Autry teaches first and second year Spanish. While this is her first year at OBA, Amanda has also taught at Enid High School and MacArthur High School, both in Oklahoma, and Arlington High School and Carrollton Farmers Branch Independent School Districts in North Texas.

While she loves impacting future generations with her teaching, Autry also enjoys other aspects of her job as well. 

“I most enjoy passing along a love for God’s word and sharing my own personal spiritual journey towards God’s grace,” she said. “These students will one day be the leaders and I am thankful to be able to play a role in their development.”

Throughout her years of teaching, Amanda has been given various kinds of advice. Some has been more helpful than others, but she says that there are a couple of pieces of advice that she continues to remember to this day.

“Some of the best advice that I have been given is to take God more seriously and yourself less so,” she said. “Also, another good one is that repetition is the mother of all learning. Those are two pieces of advice that have helped me along my journey.”

When she is not teaching in the classroom, Autry enjoys finding other ways to spend her time. 

“I enjoy getting together with friends who hold me accountable, working outside, keeping up with current events, eating with chopsticks, and serving my church.”