One of the first assignments we were given for ECS 101, was an autobiographical paper depicting our journey to choosing education. Below is my autobiographical paper.
“The one thing I’m certain about in life is that everyone has a different story. Throughout my life, I’ve always tried to give anyone I meet the benefit of the doubt. Even if they decide to tell you every tiny detail of their story, you can never fully comprehend the emotions of pain and beauty that they went through. All you can do is acknowledge and support them. That’s what I find beautiful about life: every single person on this earth has a beautiful mind that not one other person can ever fully understand.
Growing up, I was always confused about how I was supposed to decide what career I wanted. I grew up in a small city with my family of four. My parents have always had high expectations of me due to our family dynamic, so I gave myself high expectations and a lot of pressure on how my life was supposed to look. Our family dynamic is not overly particular, but our family has Alex, my little brother, who has low-functioning autism. Having a sibling with a disability impacted my upbringing in a way not many understand. Alex is non-verbal, so when he and I were kids, most of my parents’ focus was on Alex, causing me to grow up more independent. Being more independent as a child gave me self-esteem issues; I told myself I had to do everything on my own and rely on no one, which made me put more pressure on myself. Even though having Alex as a sibling caused me to put pressure on myself, he, as an individual, has taught me many lessons. Watching Alex grow up and learn how to talk, read, and write has taught me how many students truly struggle in school. My parents had to fight so that Alex could have the resources he needed to advance in school. When I was in elementary school, I realized that everyone needs various resources and aid to truly excel in school. Realizing this gave me the idea of becoming an educational assistant or student support teacher for children with disabilities.
When I was in elementary school, I always enjoyed math. I always finished the lessons and exercises before the teacher had finished the lesson, so I would help my classmates with their work. In seventh grade, many of my friends did not understand the concepts because of the teacher’s teaching method, so I would teach them the math myself. I genuinely enjoyed teaching the concepts to my classmates and thought of going into teaching, but at the time I did not like the idea of working with kids. While I was in high school, I began to enjoy math more and imagined pursuing a career that included math. For a while, I loved the idea of being an architect because I relished the idea of having my creations left behind even after I passed away. I drifted away from this idea as I realized I could not see myself in that career. Then, of course, I had a few phases where I wanted to be a tattoo artist, a pharmacist, or an author.
As I mentioned before, I have had low self-esteem and anxiety issues for most of my life. In grade eleven, my self-esteem was at an all-time low, my relationship with my parents was strained, and I had no friends to vent to. I felt alone in every aspect of my life and did not have the strength to reach out to anyone for help. In the first semester of grade eleven, I started a history class that only had around thirteen students with a new teacher named Mr. Rawlyk. On the first day of the semester, I knew it was going to be the best class I had ever had. The teacher, Mr. Rawlyk, whom we referred to as Ray, was unlike any teacher I ever had. He was unlike many teachers in the way that he was open and honest with his emotions and treated each student as an individual, which seems trivial but makes all the difference. Ray was considerate and empathetic towards each student in that class, making it a very comfortable and safe environment with few students.
A specific memory I have of Ray is when I was having a terrible day and felt exhausted about everything in my life. I walked into the class silently and sat down, showing no signs that anything was wrong. Ray singled me out and asked me if I was okay, if I needed anything, or if I just needed to talk. That moment still means the world to me because I felt sincerely acknowledged as an individual. I had never been acknowledged by a teacher in that way, so it impacted my perspective on teaching and taught me that all students should feel acknowledged and accepted at school. After being in two more of his classes in grade twelve, I realized that I wanted to be a teacher who sincerely acknowledges students for who they are. Ray mentioned me in his speech at my graduation ceremony, and I emailed him after I graduated, detailing how meaningful his class was to me and that he is the reason I am going into education. He replied, telling me that I would be a fantastic teacher. His attitude and teaching methods impact and motivate me every day to keep working towards my goal of being a teacher for the future generation, as Ray was for me.
The journey to realizing I wanted to go into education was trying, but I would never go back and change it. My life experiences and the people I have met along the way have impacted me and created the person I am today. I absolutely adore my brother and the loving person he has become; he taught me to respect others no matter what because everyone struggles with differing troubles in life. Ray taught me that teachers need to be empathetic towards students so that they can have a positive experience with education. A student needs to be sincerely acknowledged and recognized as an individual so that they may have a successful educational experience. I believe that everyone needs to be sincerely acknowledged by teachers and role models as children or teenagers because those years are the fundamental years that shape the person you become. I desire to be a math teacher so I can create a comfortable and safe environment for students to grow and succeed in not only school but in life. “