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Reading, speaking, and writing have always been very integral parts of my life. My love for these forms of literacy have been fostered through many avenues of exploration and inquiry. Though amazing English educators to those who made me feel worthless and invalidated, through assignments and texts that brought me to new worlds to the texts that felt like trying to get through quick sand. I have always felt a love for reading and learning; evolving my understanding of the world around me through the words I read on the pages in my hands.

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Throughout my childhood, I attended several different schools until I reached the ninth grade. Homeschool, private school, and public school. While my mother and the teachers that I encountered throughout the different institutions I attended were impactful in many different ways, both good and bad. There were educators that made me feel seen, understood and respected as a student. There were also educators that made me feel like I was just another name on the roster, irrelevant, and not worthy.

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My time spent in elementary school was divided between homeschool and private school. I remember "going to school" within the confines of my own home and always wishing I had the "normal" school experience. Though, I would be remiss to say that my time spent in homeschool was not just as valuable if not more than my time spent in private and public school. With my mother as my teacher, I was able to have an "individualized" and unique education experience. I feel as if though I had an accelerated education, learning concepts at a faster pace in a unique way. When I transitioned to private school, I felt as though I was finally a "normal" student. This time spent in an actual school setting was very integral in my love for learning. I was able to gain new insights and encounter new experiences that empowered me as a student and learner. I was able to gain valuable social skills and refine my love for learning and reading.

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My time in middle grades education was not entirely different from the experiences of other students. Remaining in private school, I was able to continue learning and gaining new insight within my institution that I was able to translate outside of the classroom. Middle school is always incredibly awkward for every student. Our hormones, bodies, and interests are on a constant rollercoaster of change, and we are expected to carry on in normalcy as if our worlds aren't constantly being turned upside down and right side up. I was fortunate to be surrounded by peers and educators that made the middle school experience as good as it could have been. During this time, I begin understanding what literacy meant and what it meant to dive deeper into texts and really ponder on the author's choices of wording, tone, mood, setting, and all of the different facets of a literary text. I began pondering whether or not I was interested in a career in the education world, and more specifically, the world of language and literacy education.

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My time in high school was spent entire in public school. It was a completely different learning environment than I was accustomed to. This was the first time that I felt like just another name on the roster. Being one of hundreds of students a day that my teacher would encounter meant that I didn't have the same types of relationships with my teachers like I was blessed with in elementary and middle school.

My 9th and 11th grade ELA classes were my driving forces in my choice of entering the field of education. One assignment of my freshman year was the catalyst for helping with my decision of becoming an educator. To preface this, everyone is going through another awkward growing and maturing phase and self-doubt is usually at an all-time high. You are unsure of yourself, you’re being forced to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life in the next couple of years, and you’re navigating the world of once again being the underdog classman. As such, half-way through the first semester we were given the assignment to write about a significant moment in our lives, a moment that defined who we were as an individual. For the assignment, I chose to write about accepting the Lord as my Savior, or in layman’s terms, “being saved”, mainly because my faith is a large part of who I was and still am.

From the beginning of the assignment being given, the teacher reiterated that we did not have to check with her about topic approval – since there is no way to limit what is a significant moment to someone. One can not dispute the nature and degree of significance for another. The grounds for grading the assignment were supposed to be completely grammar, flow, structure, and basic composition of our writing – subject was not at the forefront since everyone’s significant moment would not be the same. Upon receiving my grade back of a C-, I was confused at the giant red letter staring me in the face on the paper I was so proud to submit.

Upon questioning my teacher as to why I received the grade that I did when there were little to no grammatical mistakes in the paper, she went on to tell me that the moment I wrote about was not significant enough, that “nobody would be interested in reading this because that moment was not big enough.” As a student, writer, and regular person, this critique broke me, completely invalidating my experience. I remember promising myself that if I ever became an English Education teacher, I would never speak to a student the way she spoke to me. Her comments fueled my fire rather than distinguished it.

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I was blessed to go to the finest university in all the land. My time spent at the University of Georgia for my undergrad degree in English Education. My studies at UGA were the foundation of where I am today as a current ELA educator and Master's Degree candidate.

I remember beginning my courses in Aderhold for the LLED and EDUC Prerequisite courses. I was elated to begin focusing on the area of study that I knew would be the foundation of preparing for educating students in the future. I was eager to learn all that I could about building an inclusive pedagogy, inspiring future students, and fostering a learning environment where students were challenged to think critically and analytically, and engage in respective dialogue on a daily basis.

My invaluable experiences at UGA were pivotal in continuing my love for learning and reading. The content of the courses and the field experiences of the English Education program helped shape my understanding of modern day education and what is means to be a teacher in today's day and age. I was challenged to think outside of the box, dismantle known and unknown biases, and begin building my teacher toolbox.

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Present day, I am in my final semester of graduate school at UGA. My experience not only as a undergraduate student but also as a graduate student have refined my idea and understanding of what literacy education is and is not.

I look forward to being a life long learner and continuing to evolve my understanding of what it means to be an educator and what that looks like on a daily basis as I continue to evolve my best practices.