This will be my final post on this blog, because as of Saturday, I'll no longer be A Southern Girl in the Land of Potatoes. This is one of the most bittersweet moments of my life. Tomorrow, I'll walk across that stage and the next day, I'll leave Rexburg not knowing when, if ever, I'll return. This place is an arctic tundra, barren wasteland, but it truly has been the best 4 years of my life. I've made friends and memories that I will have for the rest of my life. I have been so lucky to be in school here, and I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. I have attached here my final assignment for ED 461, a one page paper convincing my teacher why I'm ready to student teach. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Love,
A Southern Girl in the Land of Potatoes Ready to Astonish the World
Little
Women has been a favorite story of mine for a long time. I feel like I really
relate to Jo March. She absolutely loves her family, yearns to travel, and has
big plans for her future. I have all of these things in common with Jo. I love
my family, I’ve now traveled across the country to get an education, and will
continue to travel throughout my life, and I still have big plans for my
future. These plans have greatly changed over the course of my life, but one
thing I know is that I am ready for my future to begin. Student teaching is my
next step.
In
the 4 years I’ve spent at BYU-Idaho, I’ve learned so much. I’ve taken classes
about math, science, literature and the like, but the ones that have taught me
the most are the ones that have made me realize that I am meant to be an
educator. That is my path. It doesn’t matter if I end up in a school or elsewhere;
this is what I am meant to be doing.
Throughout
this semester I have grown as a teacher, more than I knew I could. I learned
ways to manage a classroom, got experience creating lesson plan units, and got
the chance to work in cooperation with two other great pre-teachers. I am so
grateful for those experiences, but the biggest help to me this semester was
being able to make an impact on the students in my class. Sure, there were only
four of them, but the fact that I KNOW I was able to help one of them
specifically makes me so happy. The experiences I had in the Frontiers
classroom weren’t always easy, but they were so worth it. Seeing my impact on
at least one student’s life is why I chose this profession.
I’m
ready to be a student teacher because I have learned all that I can from books
now and I have to get out and experience it. That’s how I’m going to know what
the future holds for me, and honestly, I can’t wait.
Now,
back to Jo March and me. In the musical adaptation of Little Women, Jo
expresses how she feels about her future in the song “Astonishing”
Here I go
And there’s no turning back,
My great adventure has begun.
I may be small
But I’ve got giant plans
To shine as greatly as the sun
I will blaze until I find my time and place
I will be fearless
Surrendering modesty and grace
I will not disappear without a trace
I’ll shout and start a riot
Be anything but quiet
Christopher Columbus!
I’ll be astonishing at last!
