"How do you go from where you are to where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And you have to be willing to work for it"(And I think now a days people forget that they have to have the willingness, that eagerness to work for what they want. Because things aren't given to you anymore.)
Jimmy Valvano , College Basketball Hall of Fame Coach.
How do I even begin writing about this great quote from an amazing man? I can't explain it any better than how he has done so already. Although I did add the part in parentheses, I can not word it any clearer and effective than is already written. Perhaps what I can explain are the various moments in my life that portray Jimmy's message the best. You have already read about two of those moments; Cross Country/Track&Field running and becoming MVP in my single year; and becoming excited about writing essays which lead to working harder to get into a University.
The first half of Jimmy Valvano's quote begins with the start: Where I started my path, adventure, or process. I already revealed that I was an average/below average student from Elementary school up to 10th grade High School and I constantly reflect on that everyday. It doesn't make me embarrassed or ashamed, in fact I am very proud of where I am from and how I began my academic process/progress. I believe that we should always be very aware of where we started our life even if it does bring back horrible, sad, hurtful, or regretful memories. However, while we reflect on ourselves we should always be diligent to seek our future goals. As I mentioned in the previous post I am currently 3 weeks away from graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Studies to become an Elementary School teacher and frequently use my past experiences to see how I can prepare myself to become an effective teacher. Although there may be smarter Liberal Studies students than me that have already worked with kids as a substitute or tutor, I am glad that I have the past knowledge and experience as an "at risk student" that will allow me to understand my students better. I may have had a rough start to my education, but I was able to change my mind set to begin working towards a new goal, graduate high school, and eventually find my path on becoming a teacher.
Where I am:
It's hard to realize I have grown so much over the last 5 years. I have learned many new things, I have matured, and I have certainly grown to appreciate the smaller things in life as well as finding new value in others. To describe where I am today would be just like saying I am on the verge of a new beginning. I am overwhelmed with joy that I made the decision 5 years ago to become a teacher and excited to be even closer when graduation day comes. I will still have a couple of courses, tests, presentations, and programs to go through which include the Credential Program and possibly the Masters program. But I am still aware that my overall goal will be much closer to being met. I believe I have worked very hard towards my goal and the fact that I am still in college I think is a testament to my hard work. Unlike one of my classmates last year who has not found his college experience and classes worthy of growth or teachings, I have always been enthusiastic and eager to enter a new class excited to learn new ways or reinforce others that will help me teach kids more effectively. I can not comment too much on my classmate's experience that he has not learned anything new while in the Liberal Studies major, but to me it sounds like a lack of enthusiasm he has to achieve the goal of graduating. Although he is a very smart and talent man that works with highs school students in a robotics class, his main goal may not be to learn new ways of teaching and understanding his students, but perhaps to merely get his teaching credentials so he can become a full time teacher and begin a career. And I believe this is an example of the willingness and eagerness one needs to work for your dreams and goals because he may be enthusiastic about teaching robotics, but has not realized he must be eager to do the hard work in between to get from where he is to where he wants to be.
Where do you want to be?
I was asked this question by a professor about 3 months ago during class and I found my answer from another amazing basketball coach, John Wooden. After I am done teaching and coaching, I would like to think that I had an impact on my students lives not just through academics and sports but overall as a person. I would love to model my life after John Wooden''s and have an open door policy where anyone can just come by, sit down and talk about anything the want to and hopefully I can give them some guidance, helpful words or ideas, and continue to be a role model to the community. You see, for me teaching has never been about learning the multiplication, history, sciences, or anything found in school books: It has always been about helping students find the best person they can become and be happy with where they are and will go while making it as easy for them as possible. I don't want to teach the student: I want to teach the person, the child to find their purpose in life and be happy. I can only share my opinions and experiences and my initial experience as a student was mostly horrible, but it only took one teacher to turn the light bulb on and get me to realize the power of success that can change a student as lost as me to find a fulfilling direction. This is what will make teaching satisfying for me. Being able to connect with kids at a deeper level than purely academic. Of course I will work as hard as I can to make lesson plans exciting, engaging and enlightening, but success will never be measures in grades for me: Success will be when the student can identify their goal in life, and find themselves moving towards it with as many tools I can provide them with and be enthusiastic about it. Their goal in life will not be given to them, they will have to hammer, chisel, and smoothen the road by themselves and be proud of their hard work that got them from where they started to where they are going.
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