Running head: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 1

Autobiographical Essay
Tessa Robinson
Shane Brown
EDUC 201 Foundations of Education
Spring 2020
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 2

Introduction

My name is Tessa Robinson and I am working towards a career in education. I want to be

a teacher to instill the love of learning in students. I want to be apart of what is going to make

education great. I want to convey that I am ready to teach and are prepared to take on the

responsibility of educating future generations.

Education

I attended elementary school at Clover Trinity Lutheran School, now known as Clover

Christian School. Clover is a very small private school. This school is one of the most underrated

places to attend elementary school in southern Idaho. I started my journey at Clover in preschool.

I would not say my journey with it is over because I still help as much as I can. However, my last

year attending the school was third grade. During the summer before my fourth-grade year, Filer

School District had finished construction on their new intermediate school. My mom and I both

agreed that this would be the best year for me to transition to Filer. Fourth grade was very hard

for me. That year I had more people in my class than Clover had in the entire school.

Intermediate school all together was very tough, but I made more friends and played more sports

which helped ease the struggle.

Filer Middle School housed all the seventh and eighth graders. I truly loved middle

school. I loved playing volleyball and basketball. In seventh grade my best friend Chloe and I got

asked to be a part of the STEM club with a few other students. In eighth grade I was a library and

teacher’s aide. Towards the end of the year Mr. Guthrie let me have Chloe as my aide for his

class. Starting high school was very nerve-wracking. However, volleyball started during the
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 3

summer, so I got to meet more of the upperclassman and play among them. Freshman year was

relatively uneventful. School was going well, and I was enjoying all my classes. The first half of

sophomore year was good. After spring break a few things in my life got turned upside down. By

junior year I was in a very rough place at school and with myself. I was struggling with trying to

find a point to being at school.

During the summer between sophomore and junior year I had started thinking about

being an exchange student. It took a lot of convincing, but my parents finally agreed to it. We all

agreed that it would be the best thing for me. After many interviews I was accepted into the

Rotary Youth Exchange program. I found my spark again and could not wait to experience a new

life and culture. I found out that I was going to be going to Catalonia, Spain. I did as much

research as possible, but nothing could truly prepare me for the year that I was about to have.

There were a lot of road bumps along the way, but finally in November of 2018 I was boarding a

plane to Spain. Exchange is very hard, but completely worth it in the end. While I was there, I

attend Eugeni d’Ors. Being able to experience high school in a different country was different

than I thought it was going to be. My aula acollida teacher took me under his wing and helped

me to not only learn Catalan but also taught me about the traditions and region. His name is Roc.

He is one of the reasons that I have decided to teach. I was only in his class to learn Catalan, but

he taught me much more.

I am now attending College of Southern Idaho. I am only in my second semester of

college. My first semester I took mostly nursing prerequisites, but this semester I switched my

major to education. I have gone back and forth between the two careers for quite a while. Now I

feel that I have made the correct decision with wanting to pursue teaching. I am planning on
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 4

staying at CSI so I can get the most for my money. I am excited to see what my future in

education holds.

Work History

I am the oldest of two younger siblings and have been raised in a ranching family. This

means that I have been working since I was two years old, unpaid of course. I have always been

the babysitter and hired hand. When I was younger it would annoy me that my parents would not

pay me for all my hard work. However, now that I am a wise eighteen-year-old I understand why

they did not pay me. I was the one allowing them to be people and not just parents when it came

to date night or a weekend away. I realize how important that time is. When it came to help with

the ranch, I did not realize that I was already being paid. By helping my family, I was ensuring

that I would have food in the pantry, new clothes for school, and money to play volleyball. I am

grateful for all the unpaid work that I have done in my life.

As I got older, I started babysitting for some of the other families who lived around us

and got paid for it. When I was sixteen years old, I started working at Maurices as a stylist. I

really liked it because I got to meet different people and I loved to run the cash register. I did

find it difficult to do every aspect of my job because I am not the most fashionable person

around. I also had a hard time with it because I never knew when I was going to get off. I

eventually had to resign because I was getting home too late in the evening to complete my

homework. After that summer I started working as a part-time secretary for my mom’s

counseling agency. I really loved answering the phones and helping people get a step closer to

therapy. When I got home from my exchange year, I started as a urinary analysis tester for

Valley Community Counseling at their Jerome location. I am still working there and enjoy my

job. Usually when I tell people what my job is, they are disgusted with the idea of it. I think that
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 5

is mostly because I must be in the room with the clients when they are urinating. There are a few

factors why I enjoy my job. I get to help and encourage the clients to stay clean. I absolutely

adore my coworkers and always have fun. Another great part of UA testing is the down time. I

can usually study or work on homework for most of my time at work. I am excited for what my

future jobs are going to entail.

Service/Extra-Curricular

When I think back about volunteering 4-H comes to mind. I joined 4-H in fourth grade. I

took pigs to the fair for 8 years. My favorite service projects that we did as a club were to do the

4-H food booth and serve at the soup kitchen. I met so many people and people that came from a

similar background as me. As I mentioned before Clover is really where I started my education. I

have always felt welcome and excited to be there. I continue to help with fundraisers as much as

I can. One of my favorite ways to volunteer is with kids. They are the most interesting and

imaginable people around the world.

I became a member of the College of Southern Idaho’s Health Occupations Students of

America club, during my first semester of college. At that time, I was a nursing major and

hoping to join the medical field. Despite the trajectory change for my future I still love being a

part of the club. Last semester we decorated trees, worked rodeo concession, and much more.

This semester I am very excited to have a booth at the spring carnival and to build bunk beds.

The length of volunteering does not matter, but the meaning behind it does.

Why Teach

Every single career test that I have ever taken has told me that I should either be a nurse

or teacher. During high school I was set on becoming a nurse. For my first semester of college I
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 6

tried out nursing and did enjoy it but did not feel the passion. However, now in my education

classes I want to be there and want to teach. Growing up I always heard the stories of my mom

teaching in a one room schoolhouse. She was teaching k-8 at once. I want to have a smidge of

her rock star qualities.

When I was in middle school, I was able to be a teacher’s aide for one of my favorite

teachers. I loved giving the little advice I had to younger students. I loved the feeling of one of

my peers understanding a topic that I had helped teach. Once in high school I was a teacher’s

aide in the elementary school. There I had so much fun helping the children pursue their

education. I ultimately want to be a teacher because I will be helping to shape the next generation

of society. I want to be an elementary teacher because I want to give my students a good first

experience with school. I want to provide them with a strong foundation in education.

Goals

Having goals is an important part of life. I find that without them I feel lost. I enjoy

having something to work towards. As of right now I have three main short-term goals. This

summer I want to work on being more productive with my time. I want to be organized and on

top of my schoolwork next semester. This fall I also want to be hired as a middle school

volleyball coach in my district. My long-term goals are ever changing as my life in this moment

changes. In the future I want to receive a bachelor’s degree in education. In five years, I want to

be a homeowner. I will work towards a career in education and be hired as an elementary

teacher.

The next few years of my life are going to be focused on learning to be the best teacher

that I can be. I am over the moon excited to start teaching and have my own classroom. For me,
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 7

that is the most important step. Without fulfilling my passion to be a teacher I will have to find a

new career path, and I really do not want to do that. I am excited for the future and to crush my

goals.

Conclusion

When thinking back, I have been preparing to be a teacher for quite some time. Whether

it be through babysitting, volunteering, or simply listening I have been gaining skills that will

help me in the future. I want to bring experiences that have helped me into the classroom. Life

experience is one of the best ways to learn. I want to be there for my students when school

becomes difficult and they are struggling. I am ready to prove that I can do this.