As an older sister to a brother with special needs, who was in a special education classroom for his entire K-12 school career, I have always seen myself as his protector in a sense. When our mother would come home from the latest IEP meeting crying and frustrated, I was the one who listened to her worries. When she had to go to the school to advocate for a paraprofessional for my OHI brother to safely be escorted from class to class in high school, I was there to bounce ideas off of her so that she went to the meeting prepared. When my brother would come home from school frustrated because he was bullied by other students, I was there to tell him that those kids just didn't know how wonderful he was. When my parents got overwhelmed trying to help him with schoolwork, I would always quietly step in and get him back on track. Those days are over a decade ago now, and I have since moved out of my mother's house, gotten married, had 3 gorgeous babies, finished a trade school certification, and have had a successful career as a Licensed Massage Therapist. I'm not there for my brother in a daily sense as I used to be, but I still see his struggles in this great big world. He still struggles with fitting in and people treating him differently based on a disability that they don't understand. He still struggles with the fact that he will likely not be able to live independently. He still struggles to manage his emotions during the holidays when he sees his siblings with growing families and big plans for the future. Sometimes I have flashbacks to when he was a bright-eyed toddler, always laughing and constantly making fart jokes. I never imagined that this would be the current state of his life, and I always wonder that if something may have gone differently in his younger years, how it might have changed the trajectory of his life. Fast forward to the fall of 2025, where I found myself desperately needing a career change, and decided to pursue a degree in elementary education. For my first clinical experience, I just so happened to be placed in a K-2 self-contained CI classroom. Mind you, I had no intention of pursuing special education at this time. The very first day, I looked around the classroom at all of these wonderful students and saw in each of them my brother. I saw students whose parents have so much faith in the educators who spend so much time with them every week. I saw students who need educators who can see beyond the now and can help them with goals that serve them well into adulthood. I saw students who just need an educator with true empathy and the drive to show up at 100% every day to advocate for them. I saw one of the most vulnerable populations of students who desperately need educators who WANT to be in the classroom every day, facilitating safe and effective environments for them. I saw my mother in every face of the parents at pickup and in every check-in text received by the teacher. I want to be a special education teacher to simply make a difference. To have a positive effect on the students today, that will carry over into their tomorrow. I want parents to have positive education experiences, despite the stress of constant assessments and IEP meetings. I want to be the change I wish I could have seen for my brother.