My experience in choir, band, and theater has immensely shaped who I am today. I especially believe that some of my most meaningful growth has come from participating in both vocal and instrumental (flute) solo and ensemble contests. Preparing for these contests requires time and dedication. I often spent a lot of time teaching myself the music or learning it with other ensemble members, although, I had amazing directors and instructors who provided guidance and assistance. I have demonstrated consistent growth in my vocal knowledge, skill, and performance over the past few years through solo contests, earning "Best of Site" my sophomore and senior years and receiving perfect scores of 40 during both my junior and senior years. My vocal ensembles have also been successful, earning superior ratings each year and "Best of Site" in both my freshman and junior years. My instrumental growth is also shown through superior ratings at both solo and ensemble contests. The jazz band ensemble I participate in received a "Best of Site" during my freshman and sophomore years. Overall, my experience in solos and ensembles has strengthened my performance confidence, independence, and dedication, not only in music, but in everything that I apply myself to.
After graduation, I will attend the University of Minnesota Crookston. Because I will already possess my Associate of Arts degree, I will have the typical first two years of college completed. Therefore, a bachelor’s degree will only take me around two more years to complete. I plan on using that head start to my advantage. I will still attend the University of Minnesota Crookston for four full years, but I will be able to space out my classes so I can obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and a minor in Leadership. This will allow me to maintain a realistic and manageable schedule each year while still achieving additional education.
Proceeding college, I hope to become a project manager. I am drawn to project management for a few different reasons. I love giving guidance, offering instruction, and helping others. I have always loved planning events and coordinating tasks for other people to enjoy. I love working with people, but I am also independent and can work on my own. I am adaptable, but I can follow a plan too. I believe these traits will help me thrive in project management.
I believe my biggest motivation for pursuing project management comes from my experience on student council and as student council president. Throughout my entire high school career, I have always loved student council. I enjoyed planning dances, decorating for Homecoming, and being involved in the betterment of the school. However, this year, as president, I have discovered that I am truly passionate about these things. Taking charge and being the person fully behind the scenes has been an eye-opening discovery for me. As president, I not only still help with the planning, decorating, and active involvement, but I also get to direct those things. I get to help guide a group of passionate young students, just like me, toward making big decisions.
Overall, I am so excited to continue to work towards a higher education and my career goals. I am grateful for all of the life-changing experiences that have pointed me in this direction. I am confident that I am prepared to take these things on.
I have been in numerous different art classes throughout my high school years. Ranging from painting to pottery work. In one of the painting classes that I took, I took second place in the Nevis Art Show. My painting was a portrait painting of an actor. Mr. Bodigheimer, our art teacher, has done a phenomenal job over the years of helping students create some of the best artwork possible.
I have been a TA in a few different elementary classrooms for the past couple of years. I had never envisioned my future to be filled with staying in a school for a job. However, my former fifth-grade teacher had put in my mind the idea of becoming a teacher. She had said that I have a gift for being able to relate to younger students and making them feel important and that they belong.
Ever since Mrs. Haldeman had put that in my mind, I have been going to my TA classes with a different point of view. I have been watching to see if that is something I would be happy with doing for the majority of my life after schooling. After taking this into consideration, I have absolutely enjoyed my TA classes, and I am beyond excited to start this next chapter of my life in becoming an Elementary Teacher.
Also, I have been taking some more steps to becoming a teacher. I was given the opportunity to take a junior level college class through Bemidji State University; a course called the Intro to Public Education. This class deals with a lot of history of schooling throughout the years. To be honest, some of it is pretty darn boring, but for the majority of the class, the assignments are very fun to complete, and they give me a broad range of information I need.
During this course, I am also supposed to be getting in field experience hours. In doing so, I'm supposed to observe classrooms of different age levels, as well as different teachers. As I am getting these observations in, I'm required to jot down notes for a report due after a couple weeks of field observations.
I grew up in a single parent household, where my mom worked her tail off to provide for both my brother and I. Growing up, there were certainly times where I felt I didn't belong because of my mom being gone working so my brother and I could have a good childhood. I'm not saying that my mom was a bad person for not being around as much as other people's moms probably are. I'm very proud of my mom for making the sacrifices that she did to make sure she was doing the best she could for her family.
One of the biggest reasons I have decided that the career path I want to take is teaching, because I want kids to feel like they belong. I want the kids to have a safe place where they feel safe to make mistakes, as well as being someone kids can talk to.
