Like many people I've met in the Aspire program I am a Salem native, and it's been fun being back in my hometown going to school with so many people who have connections to my life when I was younger. Take the two Shawnas, for example, one of which is currently teaching at Schirle, my elementary school, while the other is at Judson, my middle school. Even Professor Jahn was a teacher at Sprague while I was a student there. It's been about ten years since I had any connection to Salem other than my family, so it will be fun getting to be a part of it again.
I began thinking about education as a career while living in Japan from 2004 to 2008. I had gone over intending to be a translator, and instead ended up taking an opportunity to teach English to elementary school-aged children. It wasn't what I had planned, but I'm very grateful it worked out that way because I have had more fun and been more fulfilled working with kids than I ever would have translating. I spent most of the four years as a roving lecturer in the the 30-odd elementary schools in the city I worked for teaching English and multiculturalism. In doing this job I had the opportunity to see many different teachers work in many different situations and began to get a feel for what made the successful ones successful and the struggling ones struggle. I also saw what a difference a teacher could make on group of students, and before long began wanting a class of my own to work with. Not being a native of Japan there was no way to become a full-time classroom teacher there, so in the summer of 2008 I returned to Oregon.
I got my wish much sooner than I expected when the opportunity to fill an emergency vacancy at the Sheridan Japanese School three months later. Working with my ideal grade level, 4th and 5th grade, while at the same time being able to share the experience I have teaching in Japan has been a real dream come true for me, and while the experience has been time-consuming and challenging, I can't imagine a more perfect place for me to be. All I want is to be the teacher I can for my kids, and I'm really looking forward to everything I'll be learning here at Willamette to help me do that.
