Personal Narrative: A Career In Education

My eyes get drawn by the vibrant green thank you card; given to me on my last day working at a preschool with my first paycheck is in front of it. I felt so accomplished getting it in the mail and though the amount of clothes I bought was a little concerning, the job taught me about myself. I never knew how much I loved helping kids furthermore, helping people. Normally, I am quiet and reserved, but early on I realized how important taking more leadership with the kids was. Most essentially, I learned how to save money. The last day was bittersweet; on the one hand, I was excited to go and play softball, but on the other hand, I knew I would miss working with kids.

Starting out I was really nervous about being in kindergarten, because I have mainly been in the upper grades during clinical and my first experience of student teaching. There was a lot I learned from first experience in different areas where I needed to grow as a future teacher. I took all of the comments from my mentor teacher and university supervisor, and applied them to this second experience so I could improve and find other areas I need to strengthen.

Before I became interested in Spelman college, I knew the type of education that I wanted to receive. I wanted an education that would cater to my many endeavors. I wanted to learn wholly, passionately and creatively. During NSO, when Dr. Burnett spoke, I realized receiving a liberal arts education is more than learning it is an act of resilience, and an act of courage.

One morning, I woke up and got an email saying I was going to be a teacher at Crawford Middle School, so I got ready and drove to the middle school. When I got there I went to the office and got assigned to the seventh grade science class. At first I was nervous because I had nothing at all planned for class. As I walked in all eyes turned toward me. I introduced myself and started to become less nervous.

When I got here, accommodating with the kids and school work showed me the capabilities of myself. I was challenged to learn a whole different standard of education, whether it was learning about algebra, changing my writing style or being comfortable with my new surroundings. I had countless after school days where I had to get tutoring.

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)

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.

My junior year I took Careers in education 1 and this year I am taking Careers in Education 2. I have participated in many activities through Careers in Education. The major activity I participate in is volunteering for a 7th grade math class. I student teach at Akers Elementary School monday through friday during third and fourth period. During my first year of Careers in Education my junior year we did a lot of book work about education and strategies in Mr.Foote's class. This was a very big thing I believe because a lot of the things we learned from the book transfer over to teaching in the classroom. Careers in Education helps students further their knowledge on different career options in education. In this sector

When I first think of education making an impact on my life, my immediately goes to the teacher that inspired me to pursue the field of education: Mr. Quesenberry. The truth is, I never expected to enjoy his 8th grade Civics class. Though I had many wonderful social studies teachers before 8th grade, each year history was always one of my least favorite subjects, and I expected Civics to be the same. Before I took his class, I thought that the government was just a bunch of old rich guys who made laws and ran the country, and I didn’t have the slightest idea about the many complicated issues that the United States was facing or about what I could do to get involved and fight for my values.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017, I eagerly interviewed a fellow co-worker, Patricia Britt, a kindergarten assistant teacher at my school, New Hope Elementary. She has been a paraprofessional for almost twenty years. When asked to define the term 'paraprofessional', Britt replied, "An underpaid teacher who does just as much, if not more, in the classroom as the certified teacher but doesn't get recognized for it." In a sense, Britt is undoubtedly correct. Most of the time, assistant teachers are considered not as important or not as valuable as certified teachers. Assistant teachers can perform the same duties as certified teachers, but do not get compensated for it nor recognized for all the hard work put into the task.

I have enjoyed a very rewarding career as a Registered Nurse for the past twenty one years. I was so fortunate to have positive experiences with educators while on the path to working toward my nursing degree. I feel completely blessed and fortunate that I was able to find my passion at such a young age. For many years, I have had the opportunity to work with the students in my district's Health Science program while working as a staff nurse at my local hospital. Their curiosity, excitement, and compassionate feeling about healthcare has encouraged me to pursue a career in education so that I can continue to share my passion and have a hand in training the young students today for an exciting and rewarding career in healthcare like I have

When I was in high school, I wanted to go to college. I wanted to become well educated with a good

Although most people would continue post-secondary after high school, I plan on going to college, most likely Langara college, first after graduating. At first, I did want to go straight to UBC or SFU after high school, however, I started thinking of what I wanted to do. Then it occurred to me of how this is going to affect my entire life. From what I heard from others, people sometimes change their decisions based on what they want to do as a career. Not only does this take a lot of time on studying something else after changing their primary focus, but also costs a lot of money. Unfortunately, I know that I won’t have enough money to pay off the financial expenses just to study for the career I want for my future. I need to make sure that

It took no time at all for me to excel beyond anyone’s expectations. I took the role of a caretaker almost immediately. I pushed the children in wheelchairs out to the play area and I was the first to jump at the opportunity to be the teacher’s helper. I took pride in being their for someone else who needed help. I still have a drawing that I made in 1986 during preschool of me as a nurse giving immunizations to children. When it was time for Kindergarten, it was clear that I was more than capable to enter the public school system. I switched school districts and continued to talk about nursing.

School can teach you how to read, write, multiply or divide, but it won’t teach you how to handle death, work, or life outside the classroom. Some people can handle these situations, but others struggle for days, months, or even years. A life changing moment can teach you something for the good or the bad.