My senior year in high school I knew I would be the greatest
psychologist ever! Unfortunately some discouraging words were implanted in my
head and I found myself lost and not sure where to go from there. I knew I
wanted to go to college either way, I just didn’t know what I was going to do.
I started a job at a treatment center for at-risk youth, which was my first
working experience with children.
During
my eight years of working there I learned that the aggressive behavior and the
psychological issues weren't the only reason why the kids were at-risk.
They were all classified as Special Education and after being in the class with them for five minutes it wasn't hard to see why; most of them couldn't read past a first grade level. For two years within in this job I worked for
the school as a paraprofessional and it seemed like something I could do, not
sure if I really wanted to, especially with the age group I was dealing with, 12-18 years of age.
So I went on about my business not really thinking about until 4 years
ago, I got the same feeling when my oldest son was suppose to start Pre-K didn't meet the requirements. I didn’t want him to show up the following
year to Kindergarten behind or lacking confidence so I taught him his ABC’s,
numbers 1 -100, and to write his full name; I repeated the same lessons
for his brother the following year.
My kids and previous employer have led me here, and so here I am walking the road to help other people's kids become a success.
After I graduate with my BS in
Interdisciplinary Studies, I'll teach Special Education
http://1.usa.gov/1fiFfHo for a while as I
work on my Masters in counseling
counseling.org and revisit my original passion. I do see a
PhD in my future, this is my ultimate educational goal, but I haven't decided
whether to continue with counseling or education, right now I want to get a
feel for both and then see where the next road will lead me.
Teach for a good span of years first! That experience in the classroom will make you a better counselor (perhaps to help parents learn to champion their exceptional children and fight for the right IEP) or a better professor who knows what it's like to face 20-30 kids day after day.
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