Middlebury Alum Prepares for Career in Education
Middlebury College alum Nikita Rodov is bringing years of work in restorative justice, equity and community building into the classroom. After graduating in May 2026, he began a professional semester as a student teacher as he works toward becoming an educator grounded in anti-racist pedagogy and restorative practices.
Nikita majored in secondary education studies and English literature, combining an interest in teaching with a commitment to creating learning environments in which students’ experiences are respected. He traces that commitment to growing up in New York City, where exposure to people from many backgrounds taught him the importance of making room for different perspectives.
Posse has always been, for me, an indescribable force of love and support.
Throughout college, Nikita explored how those values could shape educational spaces. He served as a facilitator and coordinator for JusTalks, Middlebury’s social justice peer education organization, and worked as a restorative practices intern and Equity Narrative Fellow. Beyond campus, he facilitated experiential education in New Jersey and spent two summers with a Twin Cities educational nonprofit centered on restorative justice.
Those roles gave Nikita experience guiding difficult conversations, building community and considering how educators can respond to conflict without losing sight of accountability or belonging. His work also extended into the arts; most recently, he served as poetry editor for the Blackbird Student Arts Journal.
After completing his teaching certification, Nikita hopes to spend time working on a farm or with wildlife before pursuing a Master of Fine Arts focused on poetry and creative nonfiction. Across those interests, he continues to return to questions of voice, community and how people learn from one another.
Nikita credits Posse with giving him a community in which he could grow without separating who he is from who he hopes to become.
"Posse has always been, for me, an indescribable force of love and support," says Nikita. "Posse means a space within which I can simultaneously be myself and build on who I strive to be."
