I am currently attending the University of Regina with the ambition of becoming an Elementary School Teacher. Last year, I attended MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. I received a Special Needs Educational Assistant Certificate, which allows me the privilege to become an Educational Assistant in classrooms ranging from pre-K up to Grade 12. Now being twenty years old, my life now has a direction that I would like to follow and be excited about pursuing at the University of Regina for the next four years and beyond.
My story begins during my grade 10 school year; now, at the time, I was a very stubborn individual ; I didn’t like going to school because school was very challenging for me in terms of socially and academically. At that time, my dream job was to become a physical education teacher because I loved all sports, and I believe I excelled in every sport that I participated in. Unfortunately, with me being so challenged in school with getting B’s and C’s grades in most classes, the reality of entering the Bachelor of Kinesiology program at any university after high school was very slim to none. After realizing that my dream job was unattainable, I lost all interest in going to school and trying my best in all my classes.
Fortunately, I was a part of the curling team at my High School, and the head coach was the head coordinator for the special needs program at my school. Now since all coaches would receive the player’s grades to ensure that they were eligible to be on the team. My coach (Mr. Fin) was surprised to receive word on the possibility of me failing my classes. As a future teacher, I have learned that one element of teaching would be to inspire your students. So, that is exactly what Mr. Fin did to me. We were having a discussion one day and Mr. Fin wanted to know if I would be interested in helping him out during lunchtime to hang out with the other students in his class. Since I didn’t have any real friends at the time, I ended up saying yes to Mr. Fin. Little did I know that one “yes” would change my life forever. I ended up helping him out for the entirety of my grade 11 school year. Those students may be a bit hard at first, but just like an onion, prepare to peel it one layer at a time. Once you get in enough, you truly find some wonderful, talented, unique, independent, heart-warming individuals, and those feelings make your heart grow twice as big every time.
At the end of the school year, Mr. Fin wanted to repay me for all my effort throughout the year. I ended up attending an event called Unified Sport here in Edmonton. It was an event that was just recently started up, and it was intended to give students with disabilities a chance to play the sports that all the other students would get to play during their high school sports teams. They had basketball, volleyball, some track and field events, and soccer that was all set up for the students. It was a magical day in which students with got the chance to experience what every student in the world should feel daily: freedom, inclusion, and no restrictions. I plan on being a huge advocate for these events wherever my schooling takes me in the future. I ended up meeting with a lot of very lovely and supportive EA’s and teachers at this event which made my decision on pursuing a career in education that much easier.
I feel confident in my decision to become a teacher, and hopefully, one day, I will get the chance to inspire some students to follow their dreams and ambitions.
These pictures remain on my desk as inspiration, as they fuel me to keep on fighting to eventually reach the end goal of becoming an Elementary School Teacher.