Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The experience that I've had
in this particular department and program
and Graduate School of Education, relationships that I've developed here
are going to help me in the long term.
It's helped me personally develop as well
as professionally develop on a small scale, but that long-term,
large-scale, I believe I'm going to look back at this moment and
be truly grateful and in awe
about the fact that I actually did it.
I feel like this program has done more for me than I
ever thought it could do. I am
able to redefine who I am, as an educator, as a leader,
as a leader for sustainability, as a person. There's a lot of self-discovery
that went on in this process.
I think one of the biggest challenges has also been
really exploring my own self and, you know,
we have requirements in the program to do, you know,
hours personal counseling and actually do some
group counseling with parts of our cohorts.
That's, you know, been a challenge, really kind of, you know, look inside myself and
and, you know, do my own kinda counseling work. But it's been really, really fullfilling
too and I think it's a great partner program to actually required to
do that engage in those those pieces.
I think the most challenging aspect of the program is
coming to grips with the fact that
you really love being a teacher and that means you never probably gonna make more money.
You're going to do it for the rest of your life because it's so fulfilling
and that means that, you know, you may not be an astronaut
or a businessman. You might be later! But for me the most difficult thing I think is
coming to fully recognize how much
I enjoy it and how little I want to do anything else.
The most rewarding has been the interactions with the students themselves.
I have been racking my brain to think about one
but it's just the day-to-day interactions with them that dispite
any challenges that the program itself presents, or the internship
presents it's still the the kids that make it worthwhile.
It's such a cliche but it's so true.
The middle school placement that I worked at was doing a science unit.
My background is in biology so I know a lot about biology and I've been thinking about how to teach biology for a really long time.
But the unit that
they were working on was physics and I have not been thinking about physics
for a long time.
I know a lot about physics, it's fun, I like it.
But it was really special to
try to create three weeks of lessons
on Newtonian physics.
And it was a really extra special challenge.
It was enjoyable. I had a lot of fun putting things together.The kids liked doing it.
It was not something I expected to be able to do.
And we did it successfully, we had fun, and used skate boards in the classroom
and motion detectors. It all came
together magically. My favorite thing about the program was
trying new things like individualized supports for children
and then watching sort of the light bulb go off when something really works.
And knowing that
the child is enjoying it and their really learning something.
As a counselor each and every day you're spending your time
hearing people's hopes, their dreams, their grief,
the difficult things that they've gone through,
and just how they're trying to you make a better life for themselves in the
midst of it.
So for me I think really every session, every day
is something new and different and amazing. What's really cool about
program is that everyone gets to do
the counseling internship and so we get this clinical experience that no one else gets.
And it's just extremely challenging. You know, if you're
not going into this program like as a community counselor,
it's really hard to get into that mindset and but the learning curve was
so high but it was so rewarding
and I found out so much more about counseling by doing that then just like
school counseling and like how I can apply it to students.
It was definitely the most challenging thing I've ever done, but
definitely one of want most rewarding.
So I commute four hours for every class meeting.
And you know it's quite a drive but
even though the program is not ful hybrid I've been able to get the support
and the guidance from all the faculty in the PACE program which has
made it very easy
but also very creative and trying to finish this program
from all the way from down in Medford.
There are a couple of faculty who really had a major impact
on my experience in the program and ultimately I think my
professional experience upcoming
after I graduate.
Dr. Johnson, who is the chair of the department,
is just an amazing human being and he constantly models to us what it is to be
a fantastic counselor and also a professor.
Also Dr. Myers who is my
practicum faculty supervisor,
has been incredible mentor for me and
many other faculty members are just outstanding clinicians as well as
professors. I think that combination is pretty unique.
I was so glad to be a part
of our Mickey Caskey cohort
and if it wasn't for them, you know, I don't think I
could have done it with all their support and friendships
and they were phenomenal. Great, great people
And I'm glad to be
part of their lives.
I have great mentors who led me into
to this profession and are
helped me to become part of this
School of Education. I'm just so grateful for that amount to support that I've
received not only from my cohort leader
Olivia Murray, she's an amazing, but
also my fellow classmates and they have made the difference
and the teachers and administrators at Jason Lee. They have shaped my experience
into probably one of the best experiences that I can carry out with
and just learn from. Working with passionate people
I think is one of the greatest things.
Nobody, I think anyone who decides to be a teacher is performing an
act of love.
I think there are people out there who do it mistakenly but
I've never met them, I certainly haven't met them in my cohort.
The depth compassion and
the rigor in terms of study
and teaching,
and desire to do well by these children is amazing.
I don't think that I would be as passionate or as good,
if I may took my own horn,
without them. I think we are
a bunch of special and
very powerful group of educators and I think we really needed it out there.
We are
a change agent and we think we will
benefit not only students' lives
but parents and families and communities out there, so,
let's go out there and change the world.