Final Farewell

The time has come to say farewell to a great group of people and an awesome learning experience.  

  When I started this program, I was debating what I wanted to do with my life.  I had been a teacher for 5 years at that point and I was not enjoying my career choice like I had when I started.  I knew that I still wanted to work with children, especially younger ones.  I decided to do this program because it would allow me to have the opportunity to still teach and give me new career choices.  Through this program I was shocked, disturbed and disgusted by what I was reading.  So many children are born into poverty or die because of gun violence.  Many families don't take advantage of programs that are offered to them for free while others do not even know that these programs exist.  Therefore I have decided that I want to advocate for these children and families and give these children the opportunities that will give them the tools needed to be successful.  I also realized through this program that I had been teaching was a positive way to teach children.  I had been working in a school district that was against everything that I believed in as a teacher.  I started to question my beliefs and my teachings.  This program has reinforced my beliefs and values and have made me even more passionate about standing up for what I believe in.  I have also come to the conclusion that there is a lot of opportunities available to advocate and help children and families.  I need to take my focus and continue my passion for it.  

  A long term goal that I am going to accomplish is opening my own day care.  I would love to teach children the ideals of early childhood and help them develop solid foundations for their futures.  I want to support the families in my community and provide programs that support the health and development of their children.  

  As I come to the conclusion of my last post I have to give a great deal of thanks to all of the professors and colleagues that I have had.  It was great to go through this journey with people who thought the same ideas as me and supported me through discussions and blog posts.  The doubts that I started feeling about myself quickly went away after this program started and I was thankful for the support and constructive criticism.  

  I thank the instructors throughout this program for their constant support, constructive criticism and ideas.  I would have thoughts that I could not quite express and with their help I was able to get my ideas out.  I truly value the time and effort that each of the instructors put in to provide me with feedback so I could better myself and understandings.  I have been able to develop a clear picture of my future and career goals as I finish this program.