My dream is to become an educator that utilizes technology as a resource to encourage my young female students to pursue STEM. All sorts of technology can help with this and I truly plan to incorporate engineering project based assessments to encourage this love for STEM in my students. One piece of technology I believe will make a huge impact on education is Virtual Reality (VR). As a 4th year education major, I have learned that meaningful and hands-on experience is the best way for anyone to learn. Fostering engagement and incorporating fun avenues for education exposes children the purpose of what they are learning and might even help them develop a passion for STEM. There are so many things to learn about and discover in this world and there is no way to get it all done in our school year. Incorporating a VR in the classroom makes so much more possible and it can help students find new interests and passions. When the students find joy and connect with what they are learning they will excel. A VR can be used as a modern day and no hassle field trip. Students can discover the world without leaving the classroom. That is incredible! They can see and learn about ecosystems as if they were in them. This is an incredible immersion opportunity without the large expense of field trips. Imagine learning about the different trophic levels of an ecosystem by exploring a simulations rather than reading only about 1 species at a time. You can see it in action! What better way to help students think critically and develop an understanding of cause and effect! They can use a VR to see all the angles of a bridge to grasp a great interest in architecture and learn about forces. The possibilities are endless and I can't wait to find all the ways I can incorporate technology into my classroom to foster passionate learning.

I am passionate about dance, learning, and children. I plan to pursue all of these passions. I have completed minors in dance and early childhood education. I am currently pursuing my Bachelors of Arts in elementary education. I have been teaching dance for 4 years and I love it. Working with children brings me lots of joy. My biggest joy is seeing a child become inspired by something I put in front of them. Watching students pursue and become passionate about the arts is incredible. I can’t wait to inspire more students in even more areas, including STEM, once I have my own general education classroom. Several people have inspired my career choices and goals. The most impactful have been those great teachers that I will never forget. My dance teacher inspired me because she was an incredible community builder. Her classes and her entire dance studio felt like a family. Everyone worked hard and supported each other. I want to create the same environment in my classroom. I want my students to feel safe taking risks and learning together. Another big influence in my life was my third grade teacher, Ms. Steele. She showed a deep passion and care for her students. She went above and beyond to care for our education and wellbeing. I want my students to feel as loved as she made us feel. Lastly, I have had a professor recently inspire me. I have always been intimidating by science. This professor made it approachable, engaging and fun. I want to help my students gain the same experience from science concepts as he created for me. He showed his excitement for the topics each and every day. If a teacher can inspire by showing their passion and care for concepts, I want to be that teacher. I can’t wait to get my classroom. I have big aspirations in how I want to inspire my students. My biggest desire is to expose my students to as many amazing topics ideas in the world as I can. This will help them be inspired to find their own passions. My intention is to incorporate the arts, especially dance, by integrating it into my STEM topics. I want the material to be relatable and to build off of the students’ prior knowledge. Ultimately, I want a safe and supportive environment that allows the students to challenge themselves and explore the many things of our world. I want them to love learning and fell as though they belong in their classroom.

Mental health is very important as it effects all areas of our life. Finding success is very challenging when facing mental health challenges. These challenges are actually more common then we would like to admit. Despite mental health being considered "bogus" by some, I strongly believe that mental health is just as important as education. If your mental health is struggling you will not be able to learn as well as you could if you were also prioritizing mental health. When my mental health is at a low point, all other areas of my life struggle as well. Relationships, motivation, focus, work, ability to learn, and more are all negatively affected. When this happens I know I need to change something. I have struggled with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders for years. When these are at a high point, everything else starts to slip. I have learned the hard way that prioritizing activities, coping mechanisms, and seeking help are a necessity in my life. I am very passionate about my education, my job, and my relationships. When I don't focus on my well being all of those things become hindered. I grew up dancing and it has been one of my biggest passions. Once I started college all of my mental health struggles became even harder to cope with. This made me want to quit dancing, get away from the environment so focused on body image, and even quit school altogether. I eventually chose to get help and see a counselor, because I was tired of mental health controlling my life. This was a hard decision to make as I grew up hearing that Counselors are "bogus". I went, I learned new coping mechanisms, I found new ways of finding happiness, and I will never regret it. Today I have several ways of maintaining my mental wellness. The hardest part was finding ways that helped me. Not all strategies work for everyone. I did a lot of experimenting and getting out of my comfort zone. I had to learn to balance the things in my life. I had to create a routine that would help me balance school, work, and my personal life/time. In my case this meant taking a step back and not doing too much. I was constantly on the move and overwhelmed by the unbelievable amount of tasks on my to do list. Instead I limited myself to 15-18 credit hours a semester and made a conscious choice about how many jobs and hours I could balance a semester. This is a challenge still to this day, but knowing when to say no has changed my life. I have also learned to have a healthier relationship with exercise. Now I use it to stay healthy and relieve stress, instead of using it as a way of maintain standards. I chose to switch my focus in college from dance to Education. I still love dance and I completed a minor, but I decided that environment wasn't the best fit for me. Instead I spent less time in it and got to focus more of my time and effort on education degree. I even found a happy compromise by teaching dance. The last big change I have made was getting my dog certified as an ESA. Having him with me in my apartment has greatly helped. Our walks and his comfort in hard times has made my bad times more barrable. I am a strong believer of mental wellness and that everyone needs to find their own way of managing.

Mental health is very important as it effects all areas of our life. Finding success is very challenging when facing mental health challenges. These challenges are actually more common then we would like to admit. Despite mental health being considered "bogus" by some, I strongly believe that mental health is just as important as education. If your mental health is struggling you will not be able to learn as well as you could if you were also prioritizing mental health. When my mental health is at a low point, all other areas of my life struggle as well. Relationships, motivation, focus, work, ability to learn, and more are all negatively affected. When this happens I know I need to change something. I have struggled with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders for years. When these are at a high point, everything else starts to slip. I have learned the hard way that prioritizing activities, coping mechanisms, and seeking help are a necessity in my life. I am very passionate about my education, my job, and my relationships. When I don't focus on my well being all of those things become hindered. I grew up dancing and it has been one of my biggest passions. Once I started college all of my mental health struggles became even harder to cope with. This made me want to quit dancing, get away from the environment so focused on body image, and even quit school altogether. I eventually chose to get help and see a counselor, because I was tired of mental health controlling my life. This was a hard decision to make as I grew up hearing that Counselors are "bogus". I went, I learned new coping mechanisms, I found new ways of finding happiness, and I will never regret it. Today I have several ways of maintaining my mental wellness. The hardest part was finding ways that helped me. Not all strategies work for everyone. I did a lot of experimenting and getting out of my comfort zone. I had to learn to balance the things in my life. I had to create a routine that would help me balance school, work, and my personal life/time. In my case this meant taking a step back and not doing too much. I was constantly on the move and overwhelmed by the unbelievable amount of tasks on my to do list. Instead I limited myself to 15-18 credit hours a semester and made a conscious choice about how many jobs and hours I could balance a semester. This is a challenge still to this day, but knowing when to say no has changed my life. I have also learned to have a healthier relationship with exercise. Now I use it to stay healthy and relieve stress, instead of using it as a way of maintain standards. I chose to switch my focus in college from dance to Education. I still love dance and I completed a minor, but I decided that environment wasn't the best fit for me. Instead I spent less time in it and got to focus more of my time and effort on education degree. I even found a happy compromise by teaching dance. The last big change I have made was getting my dog certified as an ESA. Having him with me in my apartment has greatly helped. Our walks and his comfort in hard times has made my bad times more barrable. I am a strong believer of mental wellness and that everyone needs to find their own way of managing.

I decided to pursue higher education because I have a passion for teaching. I will be getting a bachelors degree in Elementary Education. On top of that I have been working towards a minor in dance and an endorsement in Early Childhood education. While in school I have been working as a dance instructor and I have gotten a lot of great experience working with children. I truly do believe I have found my calling and pursuing higher education will give me the qualifications I need. I am even considering going back to get a masters in education. None of my immediate family members have graduated college. Some of them went for a short period of time and then dropped out. I am passionate about being the first to graduate. I am prideful to be taking on this next step of my life. A college education opens up a lot of doors and I have learned an unbelievable amount so far. Thus far there have been some challenges being the first one, because I have no one in my family to ask my questions to. They have been a great supporter of my education and I know they believe in me. Both of my parents have good jobs, but they don't make a lot due to not having college degrees. This means they have not been much of a financial support throughout my college career so far. They contribute what they can and I am deeply grateful for the sacrifices they have made. This does mean that it is up to me to find funding. I worked very hard in high school and I have received some scholarships. These have greatly helped me, but I still pay thousands out of pocket each year. The career path I am choosing does not have very high salaries and I am trying to avoid student debt , as I would like to avoid the challenges of paying it off. This money would be very helpful and would alleviate some of the financial stress as I go into my last year of my bachelors program. I am so close to the finish line and all the help I can get would be greatly appreciated. I can't wait to be the first in my family to walk away with a college degree! I want to inspire children and be an advocate for better education. I believe in myself and I can't wait to help shape the future.

I am a dancer and I have found so much inspiration from Billie Eilish's music. I have created one of my favorite choreographic works to Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish. It was a lyrical piece that focused on the sad ambiance of the song and played with the variety of percussive elements. I found deep emotional connection to this song and it inspired me to create a very expressive piece of art. I have always found hip hop to be a challenging style of dance. One year I had the opportunity to perform a hip hop piece to Bad Guy by Billie Eilish. This was the first hip hop piece that I felt very confident in performing. The provided a confidence in me and I thoroughly enjoyed that piece. The lyrics provide this sense of ego and tough guy attitude. It helped me get into character and attack the choreography. I have had struggles with mental health and Billie Eilish's What Was I Made For? has deeply resonated with me. It is very challenging to feel lost and as if you don't have your own identity. I have felt tied to things and when I lost those I didn't know who I was. Listening to this song helps me feel as though others have been in the same position. It also helps me remember that I am more than 1 thing and my title does not fall under someone else's claim.