Green Eggs and Ham

My interest in teaching began with my love of books. From the time I learned to read I devoured every book I could get my hands on. My parents taught me from a young age the importance of reading and the role it plays in all aspects of learning. In elementary school I often spent lunches and recess in the library with a pile of books. My mother and I would make special trips to the public library where I borrowed the maximum number of books allowed. Sometimes she and I would read them together talking over the story line and analyzing the characters. Before I knew it I was being placed in advanced reading courses and eventually advance placement classrooms. I have always felt that the mental processes involved in reading and my practice with them has given me a greater ability for learning.

Naturally, my interest in reading brought out in me the desire to write. By the time I was twelve I had written so many stories I was inspired to ask my parents for a giant file cabinet to keep them in. The file cabinet was the start of an ongoing obsession with organization. It is a skill that I use every day of my life and it has helped me become a successful employee and student. As a child and through my teen years I was preparing to be a teacher without realizing it. In my church children and youth were often asked to teach the lessons to their peers in Sunday School, or simply to share a scripture or spiritual thought. This experience along with the countless group projects, oral presentations, and other peer-involved school work I participated in has given me the skills and confidence to stand in front of a classroom and teach.I had the unique opportunity to work in a classroom at a local elementary school when I was fourteen. At the time I was being home schooled under the supervision of my grandmother. A former high school English teacher and journalist. With the extra time I gained by working at my own pace I was able to spend a couple of days each week in a first grade classroom. It was a very fulfilling time in my life. Not only did I have the chance to help the students learn I was also able to be a role model for them. It was the first time I realized that children look up to their teachers and instructors and mimic the things they do.

After high school I worked as a child care aid for the YMCA at an elementary school. I spent time with the kids before and after school and all day during the summer. I was proud to be working for the YMCA because they firmly believed in implementing educational lessons and activities into the program. Whether it was a science experiment with the older kids or reading to the younger ones, we were always aiming to increase their learning. I was required to attend forty hours of training including child behavior, safety, and lesson planning courses in order to work for the YMCA.

Working with young people taught me a lot of patience. It also taught me great problem solving skills and how to help children work through their own difficulties. There were many instances of fighting and arguing among the children and it was critical that as a staff member I always responded without anger. I had to demonstrate to the children through my own actions that they could talk through their problems and resolve them without violence or hurtful language.

This ability to negotiate through positive language was very useful in my next position. A close friend of mine was working at a high school with special needs children and told me wonderful stories about the struggles and rewards of working with older children who have needs. I applied and was accepted as an instructional aid in the “Resource” program at a high school. The students I was working with were a group of young adults comprised mostly of students with learning disabilities, or students who were far behind their peers because of language barriers. At the time I was only a few years older than the students I was working with. I was at first concerned that this could create some difficulty for me and that I may have a hard time earning their respect. I soon discovered that all they needed was for me to treat them with respect despite their learning disabilities and always approach them with the attitude that they could succeed. These are the two things they didn’t get from their peers and often hadn’t had in regular classrooms. The “Resource” program was set up so that these students would have access to someone like me who could help them during lessons or between classes to better understand the things that they were taught. I spent most of my time working in an English class because my supervisor was an English teacher in this program. At that time I was also going to school and working towards a nursing degree. Those students changed my life. It was never easy, and often my efforts to help were unsuccessful, but I loved trying. I woke up happy to go to work every day and ready for any struggle that might come up because at the end of it I always felt like I was in the right place and doing the right things.

These students, just like the younger ones, needed and wanted someone to look up to. The fact that I was close to their age became a positive thing. They knew that I could relate to their struggles and at the same time they saw that I felt education was important and I wanted them to be successful in their educational journey. I knew then that I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to spend my days helping students learn and grow. What I wanted to teach was easy to decide. I simply looked back at my own life and saw what reading and writing and critical thinking had done for me and how it helped me become a better student in other subjects and also how it helped me become a better communicator.

The change in my educational goals meant that it was time for a change of schools. I began looking at universities that I thought I might like to transfer to. I have always been a very independent person who appreciates change and difference and wanted to spend my final years of undergrad somewhere that I could grow as a person as well as a student. My desire for adventure led me to Australia.

It was there that I learned some of the most valuable lessons and gained more personal strength than I had in my life up to this point. In Brisbane, at the University of Queensland, I found myself completely out of my comfort zone. Once again, like working with the children and young adults, I found that struggling is more rewarding than sitting back and taking no chances. My professors were incredible, but the requirements were so different than what I was used to. One strength of mine that helped me complete my degree is my determination and persistence. I had to learn all over again. I felt stretched and tried with every new assignment. It wasn’t only in my school work that I felt a change. I also found that, although Australians speak English and watch television and enjoy the latest electronics, I was very different from them. I was truly a minority. The personal strength I gained from my experience there includes developing a greater understanding and enjoyment of difference and diversity.

My time in Australia also taught me more about the English language. I saw first hand how it morphs and changes in the division between my own English and the English of my Australian peers. I was able to get involved in local theatre and attend ballets and productions on a more intimate scale than I had before. My appreciation of the arts grew enormously from my experience in Brisbane. My time at the University also increased my knowledge of literature and writing through my practice in it. I feel that I was a very successful student and I worked hard to learn more about the subject that I wanted to teach. My experience in school, in every day life, and the unique family encouragement I have had has prepared me for this path and given me the desire and drive needed to continue on. My organizational abilities and my fixed determination have helped me to succeed. Life has given me the leadership skills and taught me the patience that I will need in a classroom.