I’ve known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in second grade. In first grade I remember making many friends, but I mostly felt alienated and embarrassed in my classroom because of my teacher. She belittled me and humiliated me in front of my class on a regular basis. However, all of my negative first grade experiences changed when I entered second grade and my teacher was passionate and kind. She made the ultimate impact on my career path and inspired me to be the successful early childhood educator whom I am today. As an early childhood educator in my own classroom and as a member of the early childhood professional community, I hope to inspire children to seek their dreams and reach beyond the expectations of those around them. Even when the community influences deter them and tell them they aren’t capable, I want to inspire them to know their worth. I pride myself on treating the most challenging students with patience. Young children are capable of so much more than most people give them credit for, and I believe in their ability to reach their potential with the right influences. Although my students are young and may not remember me, I hope to make a difference in their lives by setting a foundation for them to love learning and leaving them with a positive experience in their first exposure to formal education. Even if the students don’t remember me, I’m confident that their families will remember and appreciate my enthusiasm for teaching and caring for their young children. I'm now working towards a TK-3rd teaching credential as my passion still lies with the youngest learners. I'd like to make a positive impact in the lives of more families within my community and I plan to do that in an elementary classroom. Most recently, my colleague and friend, Katie Judd, has been the biggest inspiration to me as a teacher for the last seven years. When I moved schools in 2018, Katie was part of my new preschool teaching team. I’ve learned so much from witnessing her kindness and professionalism as an educator. Katie is the best preschool teacher I’ve ever met- she takes pride in her work every single day, year after year. She has many years of experience in classroom management, developmentally appropriate practices, and supporting the social-emotional growth of young children. She’s gone from a mentor to a friend, and I look up to her and respect her when I need advice as a teacher. When I imagine myself in ten years, I hope to exude the positive energy and role-model qualities to new future educators, just as Katie has done for me. A quote I live by is from Maya Angelou, "people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel". I remind myself of this every day in all interactions, but especially with my students.

I’ve known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in second grade. In first grade I remember making many friends, but I mostly felt alienated and embarrassed in my classroom because of my teacher. She belittled me and humiliated me in front of my class on a regular basis. I generally felt unliked and misunderstood because I wouldn’t stop talking or commenting throughout class. It eventually made sense when I was diagnosed with A.D.D. in high school. However, all of my negative first grade experiences changed when I entered second grade and my teacher was passionate and kind. She made the ultimate impact on my career path and inspired me to be the successful early childhood educator whom I am today. As an early childhood educator in my own classroom and as a member of the early childhood professional community, I hope to inspire children to seek their dreams and reach beyond the expectations of those around them. Even when the community influences deter them and tell them they aren’t capable, I want to inspire them to know their worth. I pride myself on treating the most challenging students patience. I recognize their challenges and I respect their unique strengths, as behavior difficulties are typically manifestations of needs that they are seeking to meet. Young children are capable of so much more than most people give them credit for, and I believe in their ability to reach their potential with the right influences. Although my students are young and may not remember me, I hope to make a difference in their lives by setting a foundation for them to love learning and leaving them with a positive experience in their first exposure to formal education. Even if the students don’t remember me, I’m confident that their families will remember and appreciate my enthusiasm for teaching and caring for their young children. I'm now working towards a TK-3rd teaching credential as my passion lies with the youngest learners. I'd like to make a positive impact in the lives of more families within my community and I plan to do that in an elementary classroom. Most recently, my colleague and friend, Katie Judd, has been the biggest inspiration to me as a teacher for the last seven years. When I moved schools in 2018, Katie was part of my new preschool teaching team. I’ve learned so much from witnessing her kindness and professionalism as an educator. Katie is the best preschool teacher I’ve ever met- she takes pride in her work every single day, year after year. She has many years of experience in classroom management, developmentally appropriate practices, and supporting the social-emotional growth of young children. She’s gone from a mentor to a friend, and I look up to her and respect her when I need advice as a teacher. When I imagine myself in ten years, I hope to exude the positive energy and role-model qualities to new future educators, just as Katie has done for me. A quote I live by is from Maya Angelou, "people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel". I remind myself of this every day, in all interactions, but especially with my students.

I’ve known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in second grade. In first grade I remember making many friends, but I mostly felt alienated and embarrassed in my classroom because of my teacher. I generally felt unliked and misunderstood because I wouldn’t stop talking or commenting. It eventually made sense when I was diagnosed with A.D.D. in high school. However, all of my negative first grade experiences changed when I entered second grade and my teacher was passionate and kind. She made the ultimate impact on my career path and inspired me to be the successful early childhood educator whom I am today. When I think of myself as a classroom teacher, I think of the passion that my second-grade teacher had. She inspired me with kindness, and she taught me with lots of songs that I still recall to this day. I’ve been a teacher in a preschool classroom for over ten years, and I’m proud of the improvements I’ve made over the last decade. I love what I do now even more than I did in the beginning. I’ve had some amazing mentor teachers, and I’ve developed my patience and confidence as a result of their influences. I pride myself on my tactful communication, my ability to connect with families, and creating a safe space where parents feel comfortable trusting me with their children every day. Although my students are young and may not remember me, I hope to make a difference in their lives by setting a foundation for them to love learning and leaving them with a positive experience in their first exposure to formal education. Even if the students don’t remember me, I’m confident that their families will remember and appreciate my enthusiasm for teaching and caring for their young children. As an early childhood educator in my own classroom and as a member of the early childhood professional community, I hope to inspire children to seek their dreams and reach beyond the expectations of those around them. Even when the community influences deter them and tell them they aren’t capable, I want to inspire them to know their worth. Young children are capable of so much more than most people give them credit for, and I believe in their ability to reach their potential with the right influences. Teaching young minds is not for the faint of heart. Loving children from diverse backgrounds doesn’t come naturally for many people. However for me, I can’t imagine loving any other career as much as this. I appreciate the stories that come from working with young children. Every day is different, and there’s never a dull moment. It’s a difficult job some days, but it’s always worth it.

I’ve known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in second grade. In first grade I remember making many friends, but I mostly felt alienated and embarrassed in my classroom because of my teacher. I generally felt unliked and misunderstood because I wouldn’t stop talking or commenting. It eventually made sense when I was diagnosed with A.D.D. in high school. However, all of my negative first grade experiences changed when I entered second grade and my teacher was passionate and kind. She made the ultimate impact on my career path and inspired me to be the successful early childhood educator whom I am today. As an early childhood educator in my own classroom and as a member of the early childhood professional community, I hope to inspire children to seek their dreams and reach beyond the expectations of those around them. Even when the community influences deter them and tell them they aren’t capable, I want to inspire them to know their worth. Young children are capable of so much more than most people give them credit for, and I believe in their ability to reach their potential with the right influences. Although my students are young and may not remember me, I hope to make a difference in their lives by setting a foundation for them to love learning and leaving them with a positive experience in their first exposure to formal education. Even if the students don’t remember me, I’m confident that their families will remember and appreciate my enthusiasm for teaching and caring for their young children. My colleague and friend, Katie Judd, has been the biggest inspiration to me as a teacher for the last six years. When I moved schools in 2018, Katie was part of my new preschool teaching team. I’ve learned so much from witnessing her kindness and professionalism as an educator. Katie is the best preschool teacher I’ve ever met- she takes pride in her work every single day, year after year. She has many years of experience in classroom management, developmentally appropriate practices, and supporting the social-emotional growth of young children. She’s gone from a mentor to a friend, and I look up to her and respect her when I need advice as a teacher. When I imagine myself in ten years, I hope to exude the positive energy and role-model qualities to new future educators, just as Katie has done for me.

While it’s tough to narrow down just one lyric to focus on, the line of lines that resonates with me the most is, “I bought all the clothes that they told me to buy, I chased some dumb ideal my whole fucking life, and none of it matters and none of it ends, you just feel like shit over and over again”. As a teenager I never felt pretty enough or thin enough. I became anorexic in eighth grade in hopes of looking more like the girls on T.V. and in magazines. This lasted for several years as I defined my self-worth by the image in the mirror. Now as an adult I still feel like it’s a never-ending cycle of feeling like my appearance defines my existence and trying to break that cycle for my daughter. As an adolescent, my family didn’t have a lot of money for me to keep up with fashion trends. We were also very religious which made me an outsider to begin with, so the last thing I wanted was to look different than my peers. I was always hyper-aware of my appearance, my clothes, my makeup, and my accessories (or lack thereof). I was embarrassed of the places we shopped and my entire family’s appearances. This was detrimental to my self-esteem at such a prime age of development. Now as an adult I still struggle with an unhealthy relationship with food and constant negative body image issues. Looking back, I understand that my family did their best and these material things weren’t as significant as they felt at the time. The downfall now is that I spend money on tons of clothes, makeup, and accessories in an effort to feel like I’m pretty and like I belong. As the mom of a newly teenage daughter, I relate to these lyrics on several levels, but I can’t even imagine how my daughter relates to them. Being a teenager now is more difficult than ever- with easy access to social media that constantly proclaims to have the newest “beauty tips and tricks”, peers who are downright mean to anyone who doesn’t fit their view of “pretty”, and the overall negative mental health states of teenagers brought on by these pressures and more. To me, these lyrics encompass the entire experience of being a teenage girl and becoming a woman. It’s never enough. We’re never enough. I’m a very positive person, and I’m striving to teach my daughter how smart, kind, and loved she is, regardless of what some stranger thinks of her fashion choices. I’m in school to work on providing a better life for my daughter, and son, and doing the best I can to give them the happy, healthy life that they deserve. I am pretty enough, and strong enough!