Growing up I knew my family structure was different. I was in foster care from 18 months old- 3 years of age. At which point my grandparents took legal guardianship over me. There was never a day that I wasn’t sure one day I would be back with my parents and my siblings. Days, weeks months, then years passed. My parents moved on to have my two younger sisters and somewhere around middle school I knew I was where I was going to stay. Many emotions come with that journey, the journey of being unsure if you’ll be reunited, supported, and loved in the ways you feel you should be. That is what I strive to give my future students. Support, love, and to be a constant and consistent force in their lives. I may not have been able to control my situation, and I may not be able to control their’s, but what I can control is how I set up, manage, and nurture my future classroom. In education we come across so many students, students who are making memories while they work through their own development and growth. Their families at times, due to various situations, may not be able to support them in all the ways they need. I want to create a classroom community where students are well taken care of, based off the relationship I build with them and their families. Taking inventory before a school year starts will be the glue that hold everything together. When I was in school professionals weren’t reaching out to my grandparents, because they didn’t think they cared…they did. Students from different backgrounds and circumstances often get pushed to the side and forgotten about. I won’t let that happen in my classroom community. I’m going to pull those families to the front from day 1 and supply them with the information, tools, and resources that will help them succeed. I will be understanding and make use of my own background to better inform my decisions and conversations. I had few teachers that made a big impact on how I viewed the world. What I do know though is because of that I want to have an impact on how all my student see the world, not just a select few or those who have easier behaviors than others. Life comes with challenging moments and behaviors, and so does a classroom, so will my classroom. It’s the way you work through and grow through that makes all the difference, and I will make all the difference.