Looking back on my journey of undergrad and grad school, it has certainly been long, but when all is said and done it has been rewarding and humbling. As the semester winds down, I have realized how lucky I am to have my education and the life that I live. My Capstone class this semester really made me realize that I do know a lot about education and about teaching, but I don't know everything and I never will. I need to continually be learning from my peers and other professionals. I need to do this not only for myself, but for my students. They deserve to have a teacher that is continually learning and I want to show my students that we NEVER stop learning.
As the semester comes to an end, many of you know that I have gotten my first big girl job. I am now teaching kindergarten at Franklin. In the perfect world, this isn't where I would have wanted my first job to be, but I am slowly realizing that I am right where I need to be. This is another thing I have learned as the semester is ending. My peers and and one great professor have showed me that even though everyday is a challenge, I am strong enough to be successful there. I might get hit, kicked, worn down, and discouraged by my students, but they are teaching me patience and perseverance. They are showing me that if I can get through them, I can make it through any class of kinders! Most of all, they are teaching me how to love more greatly. They are a challenging group of kiddos that come from rough homes. It has become my goal to not only be their teacher, but to give them the love they need and deserve even when they seem unlovable. The Bible calls us to love the unlovable and I think one of the greatest places that describes love can be found here...
1 Corinthians 13: 1-7
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
If I love I can make it through. If I love, I will be a better teacher to my students. I will be the teacher they deserve to have. A teacher that is right where she needs to be at this point in her life.
As I close a chapter in my life, I know that new ones will be written. One journey is ending, but there are many more to come. I know that I have become a life long learner and I never want to stop growing as a person or a professional. I have had so many wonderful people in my life that have helped me get where I am and to them I will be forever grateful.
