BA in History, 2013; Master of Arts in Teaching, 2015
School of Education
December 1, 2012
“Once I started attending UC Irvine, my love of teaching only grew.”
I grew up in Studio City California, but attended school in the Burbank Unified School District where my mother taught. My mother’s career has influenced and continues to nurture my desire to teach. Some of my earliest memories involved being in her classroom playing teacher and helping her set up her lessons for the next day. Staying late with her at school everyday showed me how much hard work was involved in being a teacher, but that never deterred me from my dream of teaching.
Throughout my middle school and high school years I volunteered at different schools after school in order to gain more experience. I would help teachers in their classrooms and assist the office staff.
Once I started attending UC Irvine, my love of teaching only grew. My first quarter I joined Humanities Out There (HOT), where we went to high schools and helped students in history and English classes. Following the HOT guidelines, we gave lessons that enriched their current curriculum, and we attempted to foster a love of higher education in them.
As my undergraduate career progressed, I declared a Minor in Educational Studies and began taking classes in the School of Education. After completing Education 138: Children’s Literature in the Elementary Classroom with Jeanne Stone, I volunteered to be a Peer Assistant in her class for Spring Quarter. I am looking forward to this opportunity to assist in a class that I already have studied while learning more about college-level teaching from the instructor’s perspective.
UC Irvine is offering me a multitude of opportunities. I am gaining undergraduate research experience as a Research Assistant in one of our School’s labs, working with the ST Math project, and I am an officer of the Teachers of Tomorrow, our future teachers’ club. My experiences have expanded my views about the different facets of education as well as helped me develop bonds with different staff members.
Outside of school I still volunteer at elementary schools as well as at THINK Together, serve as a nanny (more experience with children), and enjoy reading. My favorite authors include Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and JoAnne Carl.