Personal Narrative: A Career As A Special Educator

In my experiences and observations with disabilities, they are different in many ways, but are still the same as us. Sure, maybe they can do everything that we can do, but they still eat ice cream, play video games with friends, and tell jokes. I think this should inspire us to see strength before differences in everyone. Many people we look up to have disabilities like Stephen Hawking. He had motor neurone disease ( Lou Gehrig’s disease) and that did stop him from being theoretical physicist. Or Helen Keller, she was became blind and deaf from an illness and she was the first blind-deaf person to earn a bachelor of arts degree .

Throughout my educational experience I noticed the discrepancies with regard to the advantages my peers possessed. In high school as I began exploring what career I wished to pursue, I experienced inferiority as my classmates who’ve taken the ACT three times, visited college campuses, and have had resumes ready since the 6th grade unintentionally mocked my lack of college-readiness. However, my ignorance wasn’t intentional, my parents never reached a high school education in Mexico, they couldn’t pass down SAT tips or acquire internship opportunities for me. I realized it's vital to pick up the pace to avoid being left in the dust akin to countless others in my situation. Henceforth, this statement resonates with my experience, I interpreted

As an early educator my professional goals and aspirations have change since I read the interview conducted by the author, Denise Scott. As I read this article, I been inspired to reach out to my community, families, students, and peers in order to become a better leader. To make a difference I desire to be a leader in my community. In my community, it is important to connect to students that are entering the childhood field, however to create an atmosphere that encourages mentoring and learning (Rodriguez, 2005). As early educator leaders, we have to promote students by being a positive role model, therefore this would allow them to see the character within us. To work with children, leaders should exhibit good qualities, passion, leadership abilities as well as understanding for others. We have to create an environment that leaders can thrive (Scott, p.1 2005). As educator, we should lead as well as follow to be an effective leader in the early childhood field, however this mean continuing growing. The prospective students need to be aware that this field has no ending. The field of childhood studies is always changing and we have to stay embrace for the future There are challenges and should know where your strengths are as well as your differences (Scott, 2005)

On my search for a full-time job, I came across this ad. This ad led me to a career option, that I had not be aware of. I had never heard of an occupational therapy assistant. The picture demonstrated what they did, and it moved me. In fact, I wish I had known about them when my mom was ill. We were looking for a physical therapist, and they had said that it would not be a good fit for her. She was ill, but she wanted that independence. Perhaps, an occupational therapist would have been able to help her with that.

This semester I am a junior at the University of South Florida and am working to complete a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences. I am seeking a job within a medical related setting, and while searching for opportunities on campus, I found the Teaching Assistant position opening in the Pediatric Department of the Morsani College of Medicine. After reading about this position and its expected qualifications, I feel as though my skills, experiences, and educational background would be fitting to this vacancy.

Occupational therapy is a form of therapy for people who are recuperating from physical or mental illness that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of activities that are required for daily life (World Federation of Occupational Therapists). Being an occupational therapist has many different kinds of duties. They review patients’ medical history, ask the patients’ questions, and observe them doing tasks, evaluate a patient’s condition and needs. After evaluating patients, develop treatment plans and help demonstrate exercises. In order to do all of these duties, a person must pass the national examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. Therapists must pass the board in order to have

When my mom told me that a letter had to be written for me to be able to attend the LIFE Charter school in North Shore, I said I wanted to help. I feel that by me explaining, you may be able to understand better why I chose to switch. It may seem unusual that I chose to switch schools for my last year when I have been going to Richmond since I was four. Trust me, I understand this. I’ve been told enough times. There are a couple of main reasons as to why I wanted to switch from Richmond, to LIFE. When I have told them to you, maybe you will get a better idea of why this switch was something that I wanted to make happen.

As an aspiring occupational therapist, my essential goal is to provide services and opportunities to impaired individuals, specifically in under-developed communities, that may not have the proper resources and guidance. What made me want to dedicate my life to assisting individuals is from observing my grandmother take care of my great-grandmother until she passed away. While trying to maintain her own health, my grandmother helped her mother with tasks such as feeding, changing, and more all by herself. Watching her struggle with no support made me wish I could make life simpler for her. Also, I wished my great-grandmother had the utilities to help her interact with my family without dilemmas. Considering my great-grandmother and my future

Ever since I could remember I had been labeled the learning-disabled child and asked myself what if I challenged that label. My story begins sometime around the end of my seventh-grade year when my band class had been offered the opportunity to march as an eighth grader in high school marching band. Where that small opportunity would challenge me academically and mentally eventually leading me to be the person I am today. Beginning what I now know was the first step to accomplishing my personal goal getting off an I.E.P. (Individualized Education Program). Soon after receiving the news that I would be marching flute that year I learned that everyone was responsible for learning their own music and drill. At first, I thought this was going to be a

A few years ago I began to work extensively with the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation (NCCF), first as a tutor, then later as a liaison for my high school. From two years of one-on-one study sessions, alone in a classroom, I could fill a book with memoirs of families rocked by medical expenses that, without NCCF, threatened to bankrupt every person I met—children and adults sacrificing their prom, their college fund, their 401k, to the untrumpable cause of their son’s-daughter’s-brother’s-sister’s-niece’s-nephew’s-grandchild’s health. As a tutor, it was my job to help any student put before me to understand whatever had gone over their head in school; as a person, it was my job to let them cry for the first few minutes after the door of the classroom closed behind them when, for a moment, they didn’t have to bear the weight of so many worlds. It was my job to let them talk

In the previous years, I have made the decision to work concurrently with my education. I have been working as a waitress in a local restaurant for years. My parents were opposed to my working since they wanted me to focus on my grades, but I wanted to lessen the financial burden for them. Both of my parents never received an education and they wanted me to solely focus on school to secure myself a better future despite our poverty.

In high school, I could never have imagined I would be pursuing a career as a school counselor. My grandmother and mother both held jobs in the education field and I had always envisioned myself as a lawyer or professor. I did not want to fall into, what I at the time considered, the stereotype of the female teacher. I wished to go into a traditionally male dominated field and live out my inner feminist dreams of shattering the glass ceiling. However, more importantly, I harbored a deep desire to help others. One of the reasons for this is that my brother is autistic and growing up, I saw how he struggled in school and in interacting with his peers. Originally, I wanted to become a disability advocate lawyer. In college, I struggled

I am majoring in child education because when I was little I loved to teach. I was born with Cerebral Palsy: that’s a disorder in my brain that lacked oxygen when I was born, it only affects my legs to drag. I also was diagnosed with spinal bifida and that is a dysfunction that made me have a hole on the bottom of my spine and you can see it on the very bottom of my back and that The first thing I have ever taught was when I was five years old and my sister was a little as eight months old when I taught her how to walk. The next thing I taught was myself how to ride a two-wheel bike. I also have been teaching my brother math since he was three years old. Throughout elementary school, I was bullied because some

I started in the Human Services Program here at Columbia College with the goal of working in social services. I personally have been through the foster system and met many social service workers. It’s odd because as a foster child I extremely disliked these social workers I dealt with. I felt like they were individuals who were picking apart my life and ruining everything. What I didn’t realize was how much these individuals were really doing for me. Now as an adult I have realized that a career I once despised so deeply, I now want for myself. The purpose of this paper is to establish what being a social worker entails. Taking in to account a firsthand view from two individuals working in the field, Jill and Rae Lynn who are both social workers.

I am a Social Worker and community organizer with a 20+ year history of assisting children, individuals, and families from diverse backgrounds in achieving their goals. I am familiar with social media, promoting, advertising, and as well, working with young adults, under-served population and those with HIV/AIDS and other physical and or mental disabilities. I have over 12 years of working with the LGBTQ community, organized, facilitated and hosted various panel discussions and films on race, sexuality, gender, social justice matters that impact our community. I have led several marches for a call to action for unity within our community- the “Unity Walk in the Grove.” I as well, served on the Pride St. Louis Board and Prior President of