A little about me…
A long time ago, in a far away land called Ohio, I was born. I loved school from day one. Back to school was truly one of my favorite times of the year. I loved it so much that I forced every one of my cousins to play school with me and of course I was the teacher. I was blessed to have a slew of profound, dedicated, and passionate teachers from kindergarten through my senior year. I learned through books and read tirelessly. I grew up in a bubble and thought that all kids in America had the same experience I did.
As a young military wife, I began my college journey a little later and rather unconventionally. Moving all across the United States in a time that virtual education was not available at most colleges, my choices were limited. Toting around a preschooler and toddler while Dad was in lands “unknown” to me was a challenge but I was fortunate to have enough time to grab my Associate’s at a phenomenal community college in Colorado. I dreamed of being a philosopher and understanding the epic questions of our world. Then motherhood and the moving truck that pulled in the driveway changed my direction.
I was fortunate that Troy University offered many virtual degrees for military spouses so I settled into the field of psychology and trudged through each semester, deployment, and milestone of my children wondering what the future would hold. I read and I wrote, I questioned and I created new thoughts. It was the journey that kept me going, not the destination. There was no finish line in sight at the time and it was full of jagged turns, smooth hills, and icy patches.
As a first generation college student, when the Bachelor’s diploma arrived in the mail I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement. I was also filled with dread. Now what? What would I do to make all of the late night paper writing and test cramming worth it? How do I make my children proud of me and show them gratitude for all of the sacrifices they made for me along the way?
Ahaha! I knew what to do! Go back to school…learn more…become a professional something. So I settled into a Master’s program in psychology with the goal of becoming a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. It felt real for just a moment and then reality crept back in and once again the moving truck pulled up and my husband needed me. So a dream was deferred.
I found a job at a timeless, classic high school in Florida working as a Counselor (Teacher on Special Assignment) as I finished my Master’s remotely in psychology. This is where my fire was ignited. Sitting across from an adolescent who was struggling to find their future I realized that it all begins here…in school. The clarity of the varying educational experiences became so clear. Equity in education was a myth.
I did not know what to do with my new found realization. It haunted me at every turn. When I did homework with my own kids, I realized how fortunate they had been throughout their life. I read to them before they took their first breaths, I took them to libraries and museums, we played pretend, and crafted ourselves silly. What about all of the children who did not have this experience? Did it impact their education and future?
Then I found myself in the front of a classroom of nearly 120 eager, anxious, fickle middle schoolers and my job was to teach them world history. They all had their own stories that came before the minute they sat in my classroom. I am confident when I say we were all scared, but there was an incredible peace in that I am pretty sure we were all scared together. I quickly realized that being a teacher was more than writing lesson plans and giving tests. It was a lot like being a military mother. There were times I could be gentle and times I had to be tough, but in the end I knew I had to set the bar where I wanted everyone to go and work with each of them to get there. It was messy. Lots of tears were shed. We made it.
Year one quickly turned to year three and I found myself at the feeder high school teaching some of the same students and lots of new faces. I had leaders who believed in me and trusted me to lead in new ways. I learned how to be a mentor and coach, not only of students but my colleagues. A new passion was ignited and I dove into my Master’s in educational leadership. I wanted to know everything and tried to soak it up like a sponge. This could be a way that I could make a true difference in the lives in children.
Then tragedy struck and my world briefly stopped. Things happened so fast that processing became cumbersome. So I rode the wave and another moving truck pulled into my driveway. One that brought me back to Ohio for the first time in nearly twenty years. Standing where I once stood, felt bittersweet.
I stepped into a new role at an urban community charter school. My role requires that I coach teachers of all varying degrees of experience and education. The transition was challenging and required me to step back and realize that everything connects. It is all a big circle, a give and take between teacher and student. Our world has never been more tumultuous and we have not been adjusting to all of the changes. 2020 changed us, everyone of us, in ways that we have yet discovered or captured the words to explain.
So that brings me here, my next step in my journey. Perhaps it is a little self-exploration and education without the tuition and formality. I want to use this as an opportunity to share, compile, explore, and enlighten anyone who wants to listen, contribute, or learn more about our current state of education.
I would not be here without all of the faces and places of my stories. The students who sat across from my desk as a counselor are now married with children, the students who sat in my middle school classroom will graduate high school this year, and every one of the students who soaked up my perspective on history and psychology now teach me on social media. I am who I am because of them.
So join me in my next chapter.