My Goals
As a future educator I am hopeful that I can make the classroom a better, more welcoming place for all students and make learning a more positive feeling. In doing this, I have set a few specific goals that I want to keep in mind as I grow into a teacher:
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3. I want to ensure I am a kind and welcoming person everyday, and not let the bad moods affect the way I treat others, as well as helping others work towards creating a positive environment around them as well.
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My Story
Growing up, I have always had a very large and loving family. In my immediate family, I have my mom and dad, a twin sister, and two older brothers. More than that I have approximately seventy cousins that grew up close to us. Since I have a huge and close family, I have always valued them more than anything. During my childhood, my parents and siblings struggled with several different problems. My dad and my one brother were often in trouble with the law, both ending up in prison before I was fifteen. This loss of income put a lot of stress on my mother, and we could no longer afford our bills. During this time, everyone would work, my sister and I included at ten years old, to be able to afford to keep the house. This work from a young age taught me financial responsibility for the rest of my life; it solidified my value system as well.
My sister and I were accepted into the SAGE program (Saskatoons Academically Gifted Education) for grade five. We transferred to Caswell Hill Elementary where we continued to learn in a more tailored environment. The program was a lot more work in terms of volume and speed of learning but was organized well. SAGE kept us engaged with our schooling and taught us responsibility from a young age. This program had many requirements such as competing in the school band at a provincial level, required club or sports activities and retesting every two years to remain in the program. This program taught us vital life lessons before we knew that we needed them. They also tailored the program well to the needs of that year’s specific group of students. For example, I remember one assignment in French class where we had to build a school in Minecraft (a popular videogame) and present it to the class about it. The teacher was aware of the likes and hobbies of the students and used it to keep us excited about the material. Students were able to say they enjoyed class more often than not. SAGE made me fall in love with school and learning. I hope that when I am a teacher, I can help kids enjoy what they are learning and keep them engaged in their studies like my teacher did so many years ago.
In high school, I attended Bedford Road Collegiate, where I transferred to IB (International Baccalaureate). Although I enjoyed my high school years, I did not enjoy this program as much as SAGE. In a way, this program caused a shift in my feelings towards learning and the education system. I felt much more of a disconnect between the material and myself than I had in SAGE. While the program has more requirements, the workload was a lot smaller than that of the SAGE program. I continued doing an extra IB course in the program because I was used to the homework from my prior years. In grade nine, during ‘Bring your Kid to Work’ day, I went with a friend to a dental office. There, I enjoyed a day of organizing files and cleaning my friends’ teeth. I enjoyed this experience so much that I started to think about becoming a dentist in the future.
During high school, I met some of the biggest influences and role models in my life. They were my maths teachers; Mr. Hupé, Mr. Bosche and Mr. Owens. They all shared some positive traits such as being caring, kind, generous, and personable. Mr. Hupé was known for being friendly, and kind to everyone. He allowed people to joke around in his classes when appropriate, giving us space to express ourselves. Mr. Bosche cared for his students and about their personal lives. Although deadlines were important to him, he was willing to extend under certain conditions and was accepting of students' busy lives, relating to them, and seeing them as more than students. Finally, Mr. Owens was caring towards our education. He often took extra time, in class or out, to explain and re-explain concepts to students to ensure they understood the math we were learning. He allowed students from other classes to come to him for help and was very welcoming. These teachers changed the way a lot of students felt about math class and math itself; they encouraged the students to be good at what they could and gave them the materials required to reach that level. They brought out my love for the education system again.
During my grade eleven year, COVID-19 shut down the world. Throughout the lockdown, we stayed in school online. This lockdown made me struggle through classes; I lacked the motivation to get anything done. We came back to in-person education in grade twelve but were limited greatly in the things we could do. The lack of sports, clubs, traditions, classmates and classroom time made me feel like school was a chore, something I didn’t want to do and made little time for. At the same time, I missed the school I was in before, where I could express myself, enjoy classes and socialize in school; I could not do that in the new restricted structures of school.
After graduating in 2021, I still wanted to be a dentist. After seeing my family struggle financially through my childhood, I wanted to create a life with a career that would guarantee a steady income. Even so, during the summer of 2021, I decided to take time off school to spend time with my family as well as save up for my future education. Since joining SAGE in grade five, I had very little time to spend with my family, I felt that I should take advantage of this break, and in the end that was the best decision for me. I lived with my parents, sister and one brother in Aberdeen, while my older brother lived in Saskatoon. In July of 2022, my oldest brother passed away in Kelowna from an unknown cause. However cliché, my brother's passing really showed me how short and unplanned life may be. This inspired me to go back to school to continue my life forward, and furthermore to do what I enjoyed instead of what might be best financially.
I was excited to continue my journey through the University of Regina, as the Education program and French programs are good here. Leaving my family to continue my education was a hard decision, but overall was the best one for me and my future. I am happy to be able to grow as a person while being close to my family, and I am excited to become a teacher throughout my years here.
My sister and I were accepted into the SAGE program (Saskatoons Academically Gifted Education) for grade five. We transferred to Caswell Hill Elementary where we continued to learn in a more tailored environment. The program was a lot more work in terms of volume and speed of learning but was organized well. SAGE kept us engaged with our schooling and taught us responsibility from a young age. This program had many requirements such as competing in the school band at a provincial level, required club or sports activities and retesting every two years to remain in the program. This program taught us vital life lessons before we knew that we needed them. They also tailored the program well to the needs of that year’s specific group of students. For example, I remember one assignment in French class where we had to build a school in Minecraft (a popular videogame) and present it to the class about it. The teacher was aware of the likes and hobbies of the students and used it to keep us excited about the material. Students were able to say they enjoyed class more often than not. SAGE made me fall in love with school and learning. I hope that when I am a teacher, I can help kids enjoy what they are learning and keep them engaged in their studies like my teacher did so many years ago.
In high school, I attended Bedford Road Collegiate, where I transferred to IB (International Baccalaureate). Although I enjoyed my high school years, I did not enjoy this program as much as SAGE. In a way, this program caused a shift in my feelings towards learning and the education system. I felt much more of a disconnect between the material and myself than I had in SAGE. While the program has more requirements, the workload was a lot smaller than that of the SAGE program. I continued doing an extra IB course in the program because I was used to the homework from my prior years. In grade nine, during ‘Bring your Kid to Work’ day, I went with a friend to a dental office. There, I enjoyed a day of organizing files and cleaning my friends’ teeth. I enjoyed this experience so much that I started to think about becoming a dentist in the future.
During high school, I met some of the biggest influences and role models in my life. They were my maths teachers; Mr. Hupé, Mr. Bosche and Mr. Owens. They all shared some positive traits such as being caring, kind, generous, and personable. Mr. Hupé was known for being friendly, and kind to everyone. He allowed people to joke around in his classes when appropriate, giving us space to express ourselves. Mr. Bosche cared for his students and about their personal lives. Although deadlines were important to him, he was willing to extend under certain conditions and was accepting of students' busy lives, relating to them, and seeing them as more than students. Finally, Mr. Owens was caring towards our education. He often took extra time, in class or out, to explain and re-explain concepts to students to ensure they understood the math we were learning. He allowed students from other classes to come to him for help and was very welcoming. These teachers changed the way a lot of students felt about math class and math itself; they encouraged the students to be good at what they could and gave them the materials required to reach that level. They brought out my love for the education system again.
During my grade eleven year, COVID-19 shut down the world. Throughout the lockdown, we stayed in school online. This lockdown made me struggle through classes; I lacked the motivation to get anything done. We came back to in-person education in grade twelve but were limited greatly in the things we could do. The lack of sports, clubs, traditions, classmates and classroom time made me feel like school was a chore, something I didn’t want to do and made little time for. At the same time, I missed the school I was in before, where I could express myself, enjoy classes and socialize in school; I could not do that in the new restricted structures of school.
After graduating in 2021, I still wanted to be a dentist. After seeing my family struggle financially through my childhood, I wanted to create a life with a career that would guarantee a steady income. Even so, during the summer of 2021, I decided to take time off school to spend time with my family as well as save up for my future education. Since joining SAGE in grade five, I had very little time to spend with my family, I felt that I should take advantage of this break, and in the end that was the best decision for me. I lived with my parents, sister and one brother in Aberdeen, while my older brother lived in Saskatoon. In July of 2022, my oldest brother passed away in Kelowna from an unknown cause. However cliché, my brother's passing really showed me how short and unplanned life may be. This inspired me to go back to school to continue my life forward, and furthermore to do what I enjoyed instead of what might be best financially.
I was excited to continue my journey through the University of Regina, as the Education program and French programs are good here. Leaving my family to continue my education was a hard decision, but overall was the best one for me and my future. I am happy to be able to grow as a person while being close to my family, and I am excited to become a teacher throughout my years here.