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Autobiographical Essay

Cassandra Hernandez

Professor Doug Rapley

EDUC-120 Foundation of Education

Fall 2022
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Introduction

Teachers have always stood out to me growing up, for varied reasons. They are some of the

most influential people in the world. Their influences can have good or bad impacts on people’s

lives depending on their situation. Something that has led me to being an educator is to help

make a difference in someone's life and help them grow to learn to love education. I have put a

lot of thought into why I want to be an educator and what kind of educator I want to be.

Educational Background

I attended Centennial Elementary School in Nampa Idaho for my kindergarten year. Then I

attended Central Elementary School first through fifth grade. I then attended West Middle

School in Nampa Idaho for sixth and seventh grade then finished my last year of middle school

at South Middle School in Nampa, Idaho. The high school I attended was Skyview High School

in Nampa Idaho then transferred to Nampa High School in my sophomore year. I am currently a

student at College of Western Idaho and plan to transfer to NNU in Nampa for a bachelor's

degree in Elementary Education.

I had a couple unique experiences in school. The first thing was, I did not find out I was

dyslexic until I was in high school by my history teacher. This helped me understand the

struggles I had dealt with in school. Without that knowledge I would not have been able to reach

out for help and relearn some things that I had a tough time understanding. It did take a long time

to relearn and fall in love with learning like I did in elementary school, but it did bring me to

where I am today, which I am grateful for.

In elementary school I had some amazing teachers who made me feel special and cared for

even when life was tough at home. Which is one of the reasons I wanted to become an
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elementary school teacher, to help children feel the way my teachers did for me. Another reason

is my high school history teacher, who did not brush me off as an average C student. Him taking

his time to see me and get to know me changed my life so much. I truly could not be where I am

without him. I would love to make an impact like that on other children's lives. These

experiences I had in my own childhood education is what fuels me to be an educator myself.

Work History Service and/or Extracurricular Activities

My very first job was being a babysitter for five-year-old triplets over their summer break. I

handled making breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I was to clean up any messes the kids or I

made throughout the day. I was able to help them with reading, writing, arts and crafts, and any

other educational influences. I also have had many children I babysat in my home constantly

over the last ten years from newborn up to ten-year old's. I would care for the children and make

sure we had story time, art and play time so their educational needs were being met daily in my

home. I was an in-home caregiver for three years taking care of the elderly. Depending on the

client I would do household chores, cook, bathe them, get them ready for the day or for bed. I

would take them to and from appointments, grocery shopping or other errands they may need

help with. The main thing of all is to watch over their health and provide them with

companionship.

These jobs experience will help me be an educator because it helped me to see how to take

care of children and help them learn. It also helped me be patient, caring and understanding.

Also, to realize not one person is the same and comes from diverse backgrounds and has unique

needs. I feel the experience from my past jobs will help me be a better educator.

I have done a lot of extracurricular activities over the years. I used to help run the nursery in

my local church, where we took care of six-month old to four years old. I handled following the
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lesson plan for the toddlers and their bible study and keep to the schedule for study time, snack,

music, art and play time. I also volunteer at a local nonprofit preschool and art center. I help put

the learning plan together and organize the units the preschool will be using. I also volunteer

during events to help keep the children safe during recitals, field trips, parades or various

activities that take place in the community. I also help run the front desk one evening every

week, which includes watching over the children making sure they make it to the right class. I

also help plan multiple fundraising events for the nonprofit that involve children and keeping

them safe and on track on their jobs during the fundraiser.

These extracurricular activities contribute to me becoming an educator, because it helps me to

be able to manage many children on my own in a teaching environment. It also helps me to

understand lesson plans and the preparation it takes to put together different educational plans.

They also teach me the importance of time management and keeping children on task and

schedule the best I can. Most importantly it has shown me how much I enjoy being an educator

of young children.

Ethical Reasoning in Education

The ethical reasoning in education that I have personally dealt with a family member of mine

is child abuse physically and emotionally from teacher and teacher assistants. As a professional

educator you are ethically supposed to be nondiscriminatory and encourage respect for other

cultures and beliefs.

The pros of ethical reasoning regarding nondiscrimination are to help students feel safe and

accepted by their teachers no matter their background. Feeling safe in their learning environment

will help children be more academically successful. It will also help the other students in the
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classroom learn to be accepting of other peers that have diverse backgrounds and help all

students to feel inclusion in their classrooms.

The cons of nondiscrimination in the classroom can sometimes cause teachers who do not

agree with students or their parents to quietly discriminate against the child. The teacher is harder

on the student when they turn in assignments or tests. They might also purposely just ignore the

student and let them float on by in class with being just an okay student verses helping them

become a great student. The con of a teacher is sometimes they can become physically or

emotionally abusive to children that have a problem with culture, belief, or even mental

behavioral disability.

I believe as a professional educator I should not discriminate against any student for any

reason. Even if it is for a personal reason or if a child struggles with behavioral disabilities.

Every child should feel safe in their classroom and safe to talk to their teachers about any

questions or help they may need. I feel even if it is something that goes across your core beliefs,

it is still my job to put those to the side and try to view things from my student perspective and

just try to be the best teacher I can for them. There is never a reason to abuse any child

physically or emotionally for any reason. If you are truly struggling with not discriminating

against a child, take the necessary steps to talk to your superior on how to best handle this

situation. Before the child feels unsafe and unwanted in school and affects their education.

If a professional educator does physically or emotionally abuse a child, they may be denied,

revoked, suspend, or placed on reasonable conditions on any certificate issued authorized under

section 33-1201. They also can be charged with aggravated assault of a child, section 18-905, or

assault with intent to commit a felony against a child in section, 18-909 of Idaho Code. There are
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also two more Idaho codes you can be charged with 18-907 which is aggravated battery of a

child and 18-911 battery with intent to commit felony against a child.

Considerations for Choosing Education as a Career

The reason I should be a K-12 teacher is because teaching our youth is something I love to do.

I enjoy helping and watching the child conquer a problem they were struggling with but now

they finally know how to solve. I also enjoy watching children fall in love with education and

thrive to learn more. Being there for students on the good days and their bad days to help impact

their lives for the better. For improving children's lives not only with their education but also

helps their emotional wellbeing too, and to help them fall in love with education.

Some skills that I possess that will help me to be a teacher are that I am a very empathetic

person. I always try to view things from everyone's perspective so I can try to better understand

what is going on to help others better. Which makes me a very patient person and I always try to

make the best of every situation and motivate people to keep trying and not to give up. An

important skill I have is that I understand not one kid or person is the same and everyone has

different learning styles and different things they will need help with. It will help me to be able

to watch and help every student in my classroom.

Skills that will help me in the education field but not as a teacher are I am a good motivator

and a positive remodel. I am also a great listener and able to help others and be there for them

without the fear of judgement. I am also good at organization and time management skills, which

could help in the educational office to track attendance and other meetings for the school.

I am empathetic for others in all situations which are helpful in the medical field when

dealing with a patient or patient's family. Time management and organization skills could come

in handy for a lot of different careers. So, many of my skills can be useful in other careers and
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fields of work. Which is something that did take me a while to figure out what was truly the right

career for me and what I genuinely wanted to do.

Professional Goals

What are some of my long-term goals? My first long term goal is to complete an Associate of

Arts degree in Elementary Education at CWI (College of Western Idaho). Then transfer to

Northwest Nazarene University where I will finish my last 18months of courses, to earn a

bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. After a couple of years of being a teacher in a

classroom I plan to return to NNU to get my Masters of Elementary Education. I will achieve

these goals by setting smaller goals every semester. Not being afraid to reach out to my advisors,

professors or tutors for help when needed.

My short-term goals I have are to stay on track for each course and maintain a high GPA. I

plan to do these by keeping track of due dates on quizzes and assignments. If my grades start to

drop, I plan to reach out to a tutoring service to help, when I am struggling. Staying on track and

keeping a high GPA will help me get one step closer every semester to graduating and becoming

a teacher.