One thing I have come to learn about life is that it's never consistent. One moment you are calm and relaxed without a care in the world, and the next moment some type of adversity hits you with no warning. As someone who has been diligently overcoming all the adversities life may throw at me, I can honestly say there are various types of methods I use to do so. Sometimes my method is to work harder and push myself to do my best till I’m satisfied and have no regrets in my work. My justification for that is if I have to deal with problems and hardships I might as well put my best foot forward when doing so. On the other hand, another method I use to overcome adversities is to give myself a break. Sometimes it’s a five-minute walk to clear my head as I am someone who heavily overthinks, other times that break is being home alone and singing my lungs out to my favorite songs as I either go on a cleaning spree or try to find ways I can help myself in whatever difficulty I may be facing at that time. Two very opposing methods, but each has its own ways of being effective. One of the main things I always come back to is telling myself to not stress over things I can’t control. Oftentimes I find the things we label as adversities in our lives are the things we stress and worry about the most but don’t actually do anything to help the situation. By telling myself to not stress it’s not that I’m encouraging myself to not do anything but instead to focus on the things I can do and actively change my mindset to a more positive outlook. As a future teacher I will of course continue to face many adversities and will use all these methods mentioned and more to help me navigate my way through the journey of being an educator. As many teachers have said before, I would like to have a positive impact on my students and be a steady presence in their life they can come to if they ever need help overcoming their own challenges. I wish to help by being a listening ear, a helpful hand, and a warm hug. and/or a shoulder to cry on. I’ll even be the pharmacy and school supplies store if my students need something (something I have already been doing for many people throughout my life). Overall I wish to help by not only spreading positivity but finding healthy and effective ways to deal with the negative aspects that are a normal part of life.

Golf was originally not a sport I thought I would play. In 8th grade, I suffered a really bad knee injury and was alternating between crutches and a wheelchair for a few months. Eventually, I had to relearn how to walk and while it was tough times I can walk and run just fine now years later today. While I can walk and do things just fine I was prevented from doing any physically strenuous and taxing activities for a few years. Unfortunately, that included most sports. When I started high school I still wanted to find a sport I could play and a team I could join. I wanted to do so for many reasons including making friends, not just focusing on academics, getting exercise, and having things to include in my college applications. So I ended up joining golf where our coach and person in charge was actually our guidance counselor at the school. When I first went golfing I'm not gonna lie, I was confused. All the girls (there were only five of them) on the team were all older than me and were familiar with each other and the rules. I was still learning how to do a proper swing. But it was nice throughout the game walking and talking with the other girls. I got to know them and the game, and in some ways, it was actually relaxing for me. I of course faced challenges like always being around people who were of lighter skin color, and people always looking at me and making me feel that I didn't belong there. I learned to not care since I was just there to enjoy the sport and broaden my horizons on a sport I never thought that I would play. I can't say I was the best golfer but my performance was pretty consistent, and once I actually learned how to play, the correct form, and a bunch of other things I never knew before, I would say I did pretty well playing and adjusting to a new environment. Doing this sport also helped me form connections and relations with other girls who I still keep in touch with today so that was great as well. I can't say I go golfing all the time, it's always been more of a recreational thing with me, where I go every once in a while. But the sport taught me a lot and I accomplished the goals I had in mind when playing golf while simultaneously learning how to overcome the challenges presented as well.

I may never be the most intelligent person in the room, and honestly, that is something I do not wish myself to be, but who’s to stop me from being the most educated? I, like many other children of immigrants, come from a family where getting an education was a privilege only few got to have. Whether they got to further their education or not, one thing my family members agreed on was wanting to send their children to school to get the best education possible and give them opportunities they themselves never had. As one of those children, I learned to cherish my education and take it very seriously at an early age. Those feelings transferred into my passion for both learning and teaching. I wish to become a teacher because they are not only helping and guiding young minds to hopefully reach their full potential not just in academics but life as a whole but also because teachers are life-long learners themselves. My thirst for knowledge contributes to my passion for education. I remember having a kindergarten teacher who didn’t like me at all. Given this was back in kindergarten I don’t have the clearest memory of her but my mom sure did. I was the youngest and smallest kid in the class and also one of the quietest. Reports from all the other teachers I had would always comment on how quiet I was, and in 8th grade, I was voted quietest in the yearbook. I was also voted most creative but that’s a story for another time. Despite all this, my teacher would call home complaining that I didn’t listen and talked too much. She would complain about my behavior and say I didn’t do my homework. All this was false since my parents and grandparents would always make sure my homework was done before we ate dinner. She would treat me differently from other kids, always touching my hair even when I asked her not to, amongst other things. She was the example I had in my mind of all the things not to do when I become a teacher and that stuck with me whenever I interacted with students. Aside from that one teacher who didn’t like me, I’ve had many wonderful teachers who have inspired me to choose a career path in education. There have been several teachers who have made a lasting impact on my life whether it be boosting my confidence, giving me a safe place to talk about things, encouraging me to perform my best, etc. My mom as a teacher herself was my first inspiration to follow the same path. I was enamored by the way she ran her classroom and how much she cared about her kids and wanted to do the same. I don’t yet know how I plan to leave a lasting impact on my students. As a history teacher, I want students to not only learn about historical events and figures but how it all impacts us now. I not only wish to help and guide students academically but with forming their identities and discovering themselves. I once had a teacher who would always say “I don’t care if you don’t memorize or know everything from my class, as long as you come away with at least one concrete thing you learned and will remember for the rest of your life then I’ve reached my objective” and that’s similar to what I believe in now as well.

I am interested in Asian American studies and language because as a double major in history and anthropology, those are some of the areas that have had my interest since before I went to college. I was intrigued by the language, culture, religions, and much more so I went on to make it one of the focuses I study and do research in. I especially focus not only on history and records but pop culture, music and entertainment, current events, and other topics that got me deeper into Asian American studies. I tend to combine my research from history and anthropology to help when making connections. As someone whose family is from Guyana but part of the Asian diaspora, my knowledge of my Asian background and culture has been very limited. One of the reasons I have a strong interest in Asian American studies is to connect to my roots and learn what I can, but also because I have many Asian American friends who also have similar feelings of not knowing much about their cultures. As someone who focuses on world history and cultural history, how can I understand and study other people’s languages and cultures if I don’t first do that for my own people? I’ve also been studying and learning different languages so that I can better understand translations, cultural differences, references, and much more. Overall I’m always ready and open to learning as much as I can about people all over the world and Asian Americans are just one category that I focus on for both personal and academic reasons. I believe that I display cultural diversity and human development in my respective community in various ways. As someone who comes from a very diverse family and neighborhood, I have become an expert in navigating through different cultures and norms and adapting to different environments. With this, I use all my knowledge and experience to help others in many ways to feel comfortable in the community as well. I’ve been a voluntary English tutor for those that don’t feel comfortable with the language. I have also been a peer mentor for many students who need guidance, a friend, advice, or just have questions on things like how they can adapt better to the community. I have helped people as a friend, work colleague, and teacher and continue to do so as much as I can. As for human development, I am the first person in my family to attend a university and be pursuing a master’s degree. I have always worked on developing and bettering myself to accomplish my goals and to be a good role model to all the younger ones in my family who need one. As a leader in my community, my intention is to help whoever needs it but also contribute to making a comfortable environment for everyone to be themselves in and feel accepted whether it comes to cultural differences, religion, language barriers, etc. As someone had said before, “the beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people”.

I remember randomly watching the movie 'Enola Holmes' simply because someone I knew had reccommended it to me. But their was one scene in particular that I held onto. A black women by the name of Edith had a short conversation with Sherlock Holmes asking why does politics not interest him. In response Sherlock had replied "because it's fatally boring". But what Edith said next is what resonated with me and that line was "because you have no interest in changing a world that suits you so well". Both the education and legal systems have influenced my beliefs relationships and career aspirations in various ways because like many others I find that the world isn't suitable enough for me so I work to change it for both myself and everyone else that I care about. As a woman of color coming from a low-income and immigrant family I grew up seeing how the legal system was disadvantageous to myself but mainly to other friends and family that I know. But while there are many experiences I can share about things such as discrimination, sexism, etc. I instead prefer to talk about the equally as disadvantageous education system and how I chose to make it something positive for myself. While the education system isn't the best, I took as many opportunites as it gave me starting from a young age whether it be in the form of honors or advances programs/classes, volunteering oportunties, internships, scholarships, etc. Doing and achieving different things made me believe that even if there wasn't a place for me at the table then I would either make a place or create a new table. While I am the first female in my family to go to college, I don't want to be the only one. For many years I've done things such as tutoring and offereing homework help to different students who needed it, even if they couldn't afford it I would do it free of charge. I've done many other small things such as having talks and educating the younger ones around me on topic I notice the adults either avoid or don't properly address such as colorism and racism. I've been a teacher's asisstant in different special education classrooms where I've met some of the smartest and most compassionate kids I know. For many years me and my friends would join the Toys for Tots community and help with buying gifts, wrapping them, and hand delievering them to kids in low income schools and neighborhoods. Overall their are many social issues that I work to address that are all interconnected with one another, and a lot of my focus is out on the kids and younger generations. My beliefs and relationships have helped me determine from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher. While many people around me try and tell me to choose another career that makes more money or is "more prestigious", I mainly just ignore them. I've encountered many hardships along the way such as various financial issues, dealing with loss and deaths in my family (as many people have during this pandemic), sicknesses, seizures, etc. I plan to be a teacher who doesn't just teach students the required curriculum content, but have them learn skills that will help them as they grow, and give motivation, encouragement, a listening ear, or even just be an adult they could trust and come to for advice. I've tried to provide help and support in many ways and being a teacher is just another outlet for me to do so.

There are multiple teachers in my life that are an inspiration to me and are a part of the reason why I myself want to become a teacher. My family is full of teachers, from my mom to several of my aunts and uncles, so I have always been surrounded by them. My mom and her sister, in particular, were the ones who had the biggest impact on me. When I was younger and there was no one to watch me during summer vacations, I spent my time at my mom's school helping around. Growing up I saw firsthand the impact my mom had on her students and how much her kids adored her. I saw how being a teacher gave her a purpose and how much change she was able to make in the lives of young children. A good portion of the kids my mom had in her class were kids who were adopted or being fostered, some were. autistic or had learning disablities, while others did not speak English as their first language. I remember one day my mom told me that the other teachers didn't want a lot of those kids in their class but she never wanted to turn away a student and their families so that is how most of them ended up with her. From observing my mom and the other teachers around me I learned more about being compassionate, kind, and a positive role model. I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a teacher, and as I did things such as tutoring, assistant teaching, and volunteering it felt right to me. Just like everyone going through life, I also faced my fair share of obstacles at school and growing into the person I am. I can be a very quiet and observative person which can be a good and bad thing. Things like presenting and public speaking were some things I had to grow into. A lot of times my quietness signaled to other people I was easy to boss around or that they can ignore and speak over me. I remember in my 8th-grade yearbook I was voted most quiet. From high school onwards I got out of my shell, actively putting myself in positions where I could practice speaking and dealing with groups of people. The several part-time jobs that I've tutoring, babysitting, working in an office as an assistant, etc. also helped with things like commanding attention and learning how to network. While I was voted most quiet in my 8th-grade yearbook I was also one of the few who got voted twice for something, so I was mostly quiet but I was also considered the most creative. I used my creativity as a person to also help me grow and become who I am today. For example, I've had a side job selling my art and pieces that have been commissioned. At my mom's school, they would often pay me to paint murals and design charts and signs for them. When presenting in my courses and my job I always use my creativity to my advantage in things like Powerpoint presentations. So overall I've learned how to identify my weaknesses and find ways to improve, while also knowing my strengths and using them to help me as well. And I plan to use all my skills and experience in my job as a teacher when interacting with my students.

Recently in a speech made by someone named Bretman Rock, he discussed how he would be lying if he said he never saw people who looked like him on tv when growing up. He went on to elaborate how his mom was always watching Filipino shows and tv channels, so therefore he always saw people who looked like and represented him on tv. As Bretman says if you don't see or feel represented or relatable to whoever and whatever you're watching, it's not because there is no one else there who looks like or represents you, it's because you're on the wrong channel and need to change it. As someone who plans to teach history and social studies to the youth as my career this is what I wish to share with them when learning. So many times the youth feels underrepresented or misunderstood, some would say they feel as though they don't belong. This can be shown in the increase in conversation on topics such as "imposter syndrome" and "safe spaces". As a future educator one of my main goals, aside from making sure students learn or share an interest in some part of history, is to make sure they feel comfortable sharing who they are and what they plan to do and accomplish with others. To know that if something hasn't been done before they can be the one to do it, and if something has already been done, then they are not alone and there are predecessors who they can look to for inspiration and motivation. Overall I plan to inspire the youth by giving them encouragement and advice, being a shoulder to cry on, and lending a listening ear with no judgment whenever they need it. If my students don't have an adult they trust or wish to talk to and share their questions and concerns I want to do my best to change that and help them in inspiring and motivating themselves.

I grew up in a family that had a lot of teachers. When I was younger and had no one at home to watch me I would be at my mom’s school watching her teach her young students and would serve as her helper doing small tasks. As I grew older I tutored students and was always helping various teachers in multiple ways, so it wasn’t much surprise when I decided pretty early on in my life that I wanted to become a teacher myself. I became a teacher on the adolescent education track at my college and I double majored in history and anthropology. Due to financial reasons, I had to change my anthropology major to a minor. History has always been my favorite subject and it felt right to choose that as what I would be teaching others. I feel that if you are passionate about what you teaching it will reflect in your work and the interests of your students. But while majoring in history something still felt missing to me. Things like culture and traditions were not something I saw much of in history academia. I eventually learned more about anthropology through my college journey and it offered what I felt was missing. As an anthropology student, I focus on cultural anthropology as well as linguistics. I incorporate anthropology in my teaching and lesson plans in history classes since it gives a more humanistic perspective sometimes. I feel like in order to genuinely understand history or atleast be interested in it, one has to understand all aspects of human beings and our lives. Why we gravitate towards music and dance, how we adapt or create new languages and ways of communicating, how things are always changing, etc. I plan to use my passion for learning to help become a better teacher and hopefully pass on some of this passion and interest for learning to my students. I also use my understanding from lessons of both history and anthropology to navigate myself through life with things like breaking generational curses and working towards giving my friends, family, and students positive experiences that I didn’t receive. An example of this is with understanding the history of colorism. My family and many in my community still have this old mindset that being fair-skinned means being more beautiful or superior. While I do my best to help change their views on that I use my knowledge and access to academic resources to help in doing so. I’ve found that backing up my arguments with research when speaking on these subjects whether it be in a formal or informal setting, leads to more people actively thinking and changing their mindsets. So I plan to use my knowledge and experience overall in small but meaningful ways to make a difference in the world.

My family immigrated to the United States from Guyana one by one. When I listen to them share their stories of how they lived and what they had to do to get by it gives me the strength and motivation to move forward and take my education seriously. A lot of my family members never got the chance to pursue a higher education so I consider myself very blessed that they did all they could to help me get where I am today. I don’t have a specific plan on how I wish to make a positive impact in the world through my experience and education, but I can start with taking up space and bringing in diversity. More often than not I’ve found myself being the little brown girl with glasses in a room full of white people, or a room full of black people, especially in my courses. I’ve learned over time how to adapt to interacting with different kinds of people and have been passing down my experiences and knowledge to the younger generations in my family and community who also wish to go to college, acting as the big sister they can rely on if they need to. I also have been passing on my knowledge to the younger ones with things like college applications, registration, figuring out what they want to major in, and filling them in on all the information we as first-generation college students didn’t have access to with no one there to guide us. I say I don’t have a specific plan but I do have small unplanned ways that I believe I have already started making a positive impact on others. One thing I can also say is that I plan to become a teacher in the future that pays attention to her students and is there to offer help, encouragement, and knowledge whether it be in academics or simply questions about life. I major in history and that’s the subject I plan to teach but it felt incomplete to me. It led to me pursuing a double major in anthropology as well as it is the study of people. Unfortunately due to financial reasons, I switched my anthropology major to a minor but still learned a lot that I intend to include in my curriculum and lesson planning as a future educator. With anthropology, there is more emphasis and focus on things such as culture, language, traditions, etc. Those were some of the things I felt were missing from standard history education and those are also things I plan to incorporate to help students and people, in general, feel more included, seen, and heard. Once again as the brown girl who often felt left out in academic settings, I wish to change that and give POC students more opportunities and positive experiences in the future.

Growing up I did not like math. Didn’t particularly care for science. I like English because I love to read, but school quickly ruined the subject for me after we had to spend hours analyzing what we read. But all throughout my time in school I loved social studies and history, and always thrived in those classes. Learning about different people, places, and periods of time only fueled my interest. I always knew I wanted to become a teacher, but I often changed my mind about what type of teacher I would become. I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to teach since everyone around was always telling me different things. A good amount of my family kept trying to convince me to become a nurse or doctor but I couldn’t see myself in the medical field, and I had no interest in that at all. In my first year of college after taking some history courses I finally made up my mind to major in history and for that to become the subject I teach as well. Aside from school, I made a list of topics and ideas that I would research and learn about in my own time. The list ranged from things like Native tribes in America to the origins of carnival music. Some topics seem incredibly important while others seem unserious but all of them just increased my love and interest in learning more. When creating lesson plans or justifying how I teach my students about different historical topics I utilize my passion and creativity a lot. I never want to be that teacher just teaching by reading a textbook, so I do things like bring in different perspectives, talk about current events that students tell me about or want to discuss, use lots of visuals, etc. In my lesson plans and student teaching and observations I also incorporate different exercises, sometimes acting out scenarios or debating on controversial topics. I use my passion for history to help fuel my passion for teaching and education. And as I share all my knowledge from the useful things to the obscure bits with my students and anyone else willing to listen, I also learn a lot from what others share with me as well. For example, in a recent research paper, I did on the Ojibwe tribe, a native tribe located in both the U.S and Canada, on a healing ritual known as the jingle dress dance, I was able to make friends with actual jingle dress dancers who explained in more details the history of their people and traditions better than any book could. Overall as I start settling into my future career as a teacher I hope to pass on my passion for history to at least some of my students so that they themselves can become historians in their own free time.

Due to events like the Covid pandemic, inflation, and having work hours cut (or some people losing their jobs and daily income), it’s safe to say that many of us can drone on about the hardships we faced and how we adapted and grown over these past few years. I would personally say I grew in various areas of my life over the past year. There isn’t one specific event that set off my growth, it's just as time passed I’ve found myself becoming more mature and appreciative of what I have as I look back. A close aunt of mine had passed away from a heart attack, and a few weeks later I found myself taking my weak grandmother to the hospital and later finding out she had cancer. Along with those depressing events, there were also good things that happened in my year that kept me working hard toward my goal of graduating with a degree. I got a part-time job at my college in addition to the jobs I already do with free-lance babysitting and tutoring, which gave me some more income as well as work experience and connections. I also got to spend more time with my family as we realized how important it is to spend time with one another while we’re still here in this life. Along with those big changes also come the small things that help reflect how much I’ve grown as a person. I’m the oldest child in my family so I would say that I did grow up quicker compared to the younger ones in my family as I learned to do all the things I was needed for. But this past year especially had me put more emphasis on things like money management and taking care of my mental health. Knowing when to give myself a break, or some time to heal, before I picked back up my busy schedule of all the things I had set out to do. With all the changes some of the things that did stay the same about me include but are not limited to my determination, my tendency to overthink or always try and stay organized, and my love for my family and friends around me. I can’t say just one thing I’ve learned through my journey of self-discovery because there’s a long list of things, and I continue to add to that list as I continue to learn and live my life. One thing that I will say I have learned is that it’s okay to not have everything figured out, or have everything go as planned since life always throws curveballs at us in both the best and worst times.

“They can take everything from you, but they can’t take away your education”, are words I grew up hearing in my Caribbean household from my parents, grandparents, and every other adult in the family. And I’m sure I'm not the only child who has constantly heard this, but nevertheless those words encouraged me to pursue a bachelors and masters degree in higher education. Of course with this degree comes the financial burdens I would also have to account for, and coming from a lower income family I was ready to do what was necessary to help me reach my goals. I was happy to receive scholarships from my university that helped cover the cost of some of my tuition and expenses but still had to take out loans to cover the rest. Since high school I worked many odd jobs including as a daycare assistant, freelance babysitting, etc. I would also tak monthly jobs painting murals and making paintings for whoever commissioned it, along with tutoring students and providing homework help. I continued those jobs throughout college as well when time permitted. I also got a part-time job as a student worker at my university where I do my best to clock in as much as I am able to. While some of my money has already gone to paying my tuition and other expenses like textbooks and travel, I also do my best to save most of my money and stash it away for when I start paying off my loans in the future. My plan is to slowly but steadily pay off my loan debts over the course of the next few years. Soon I will graduate with my bachelors degree and have already started taking credits that count towards my masters degree. Along with continuing to work both my part time job, and other odd jobs, I plan to apply for scholarships and grants in hopes of receiving some money to put towards my debts as well. My parents also assured me that they will try to help me with what they can concerning my student loans, and while I know I still have a long way to go to pay everything off, I am thankful for their help. My plan is pretty straightforward and I can imagine that many others have the same plans as me. As I continue to work toward my goals and paying my debts off I remember all the words of advice my family has shared with me on how important education is, and that along with the idea that I’ll be the first female in my family to get a college degree in the United States, all helps to keep me motivated.