The first time I came to Seattle was to celebrate New Years 2007 with my father and my stepmother and I fell in love with the Pacific Northwest that week. I loved that people cared about things like recycling and environmental preservation. I liked that the culture was diverse and people were so open to that. I loved how green everything was with parks and trees everywhere I turned. What I remember loving most from that first trip was how breath taking it was to drive south through Seattle and see Mt Rainier in the distance. I still have that ‘catch my breath’ feeling when I see her power and beauty in the distance and I always wonder if people raised here understand her significance.
When I returned home to Baltimore where I had lived my whole life, I returned to the job where I had worked for several years. I was a Psychiatric Technician at Johns Hopkins Hospital on their Pediatric Inpatient Psychiatry Unit and I loved my work. I worked with children who came from every socioeconomic background you can imagine and I prided myself on doing my best to see them as individuals and not as a diagnosis or a neighborhood or a V.I.P. I had a great deal of respect for my coworkers and felt very blessed to be a part of such an elite team of nurses who had so much knowledge of behavior and emotion in children. I had learned a lot in that job and it made me hungry for more. After returning from Seattle, however, I felt more unsettled than ever. I knew I needed to be more in life. I knew I needed to make an impact somehow.
By July of that year I had moved to Seattle and found a job working in a classroom with a young man diagnosed with autism. I again felt this passion when it came to behavior and helping a kid learn to control his aggression. I loved the idea of working in a school but although I had a lifelong dream of becoming a teacher I left that placement unconvinced.
In the fall of 2008 I found my way into an elementary school Special Education classroom specializing in students diagnosed with autism. Suddenly I was in a fast paced environment where the day rarely lulled. I worked with amazing colleagues and found myself excited to see our students every morning. Long weekends and breaks were much needed but I was always eager to return to the classroom. Finally I felt at home. I knew for sure that I was where I was supposed to be.
The teacher in the classroom I was working in had completed her education at Seattle Pacific University as a member of their Accelerated Routes to Certification program and after some hard work and determination I decided to follow in her footsteps. I wanted to be a teacher and I wanted her to help teach me. I knew I had to do whatever it took to make that real for me. Today it is real.
This fall, I will be returning to that same classroom to complete my internship for SPU and I couldn’t be more excited. I am excited to return to my students, to see their quirky little nuances that make me smile. I am eager and grateful to be in a learning environment surrounded by professionals who are extremely knowledgeable in our field and who will help push me to that next level of knowledge and leadership within the classroom environment. I am enthusiastic to work in a school with a faculty and staff who are open to new ideas and fresh approaches to long term dilemmas.
I know I am supposed to use this space to tell you more about who I am, beyond the classroom but really, this is who I am right now. I could tell you that I like to play softball but I am not sure when I will play again because I am focused on school. I could tell you that I like to play cards but again, I haven’t had the time in months now just preparing for this program. I could tell you that I like to read non-fiction novels but today, I read books on educational theories. There are so many things about me that make me but becoming a teacher is who I am. It defines me. Kids have defined my world for as long as I can remember. I love the concept of being a teacher and I am grateful to be where I am today. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I am living the dream.
