Elita Amini Virmani

Pronouns: She/Her

Faculty Position: Associate Professor 

Hometown: Ross, CA 

One of my favorite memories is designing and creating sweatshirts with SSU first-year learning community students that said: "Take a deep breath, you matter" and "Grow at your own pace." Together we came up with a message we wanted to convey to the world that also represented what we focused on together as a classroom community.

Transitioning to online teaching during COVID was probably one of the harder moments, however, we all gained a million skills during that time that have helped to inform our day-to-day teaching practices. Navigating how to stay connected as classroom communities during COVID also helped to ground us in what matters.

I am at SSU because of the people. I deeply care about mentoring students and offering guidance to students interested in a career working with children and families. Prior to coming to Sonoma State, I was in the field for 20 years – teaching in an infant/toddler classroom, doing clinical work with low-income families and their infants at UCSF, and developing resources for and directing a national training program called the Program for Infant Toddler care. I led a training effort in which we traveled all over the country to train thousands of professionals in the field of early childhood development. I stay at SSU because I LOVE my job; primarily, I love the students at SSU and their deep interest in making a difference in the field. They challenge me to be a better human and educator every day.

The Early Childhood Studies Department has been incredibly supportive, and a nurturing place to grow and learn. I am grateful for my colleagues in ECS and beyond!

I love working at SSU, mostly because of the students. They inspire me to be a better human and to continue to learn and grow and find moments of meaning.