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My name is Emma! I am 22 years old, reside in Newport Beach, and currently teach preschool for a private child care center in the area. I received my Bachelor's degree from UC Irvine this past September, in Education Sciences. That included minors in both Psychology & Social Behavior (PSB), and Philosophy... for fun.

Given the usual tempo of my day-to-days, I can only present the tranquil version of myself, in a tree stump, in the woods along Big Sur, as a fond memory.

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The truth is, I usually look like this, and can be found leading Bear Hunts. I love my job! I have known for quite some time now that I belong, and want to make as positive an impact as possible, in Early Education. I have yet to find any reasoning to the contrary.

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Personal & Professional Experiences (1/3)

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Personal & Professional Experiences (1/3)

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My first real step into the field of ECE came, unexpectedly, from a study abroad trip to Nicaragua, when I was 17. As a part of the program I traveled with, Global Glimpse, I, and my 13 cohorts from across the country, had to teach English at a local community center during our month stay. It was that experience, and the students, my first ever, that pointed me in the direction of education.

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Following that experience, I went into my undergraduate declared from day one. My sophomore year at UCI, I discovered a program called Jumpstart. I spent my remaining three years there, essentially training, brainstorming, and learning the hows, and then actually teaching twice a week in local preschools. The experience was a concrete glimpse into the field, and provided a profound, inclusive, creative, and adapting foundation of understanding. At any given time over those years, I could often be found in the Dramatic Play area, as such:

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Currently, I am a preschool teacher for a branch of Tutor Time Learning Care Group. For my first 5 months, I was a lead Early Preschool teacher, for 2 and a half year olds. Recently, I was lucky enough to move up to the Preschool room, for potty trained 3 year olds. My duties include planning and implementing the LCG curriculum, often with splashes of my own ideas and experiences, as well as daily child care. I find this age group suits my personality and professional goals, much more so than the EPs class did, although the experience was certainly an eye-opener. I plan to stay at this facility for a year or so, to gain as much experience as possible, before moving on to perhaps a school district, unless the universe has other ideas. We'll see.

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I will be very honest, whatever my ultimate end goal is, I am not yet sure. I have had dreams of joining the Peace Corps, and traveling the global education scene. I hold hope in my heart that will still be reality one day. Following that, I believe I would one day like to work in global early childhood education, perhaps creating programs in developing countries without the proper resources or knowledge. Until then, and unless a different path presents itself, I plan to work in as many different ECE environments available to me here, in order to gain a wide depth of understanding. I would love to take a shot at Montessori curricula, or perhaps Kindergarten, although that would require the acquisition of my credentials. To be perfectly transparent, I am hoping to dip my toes in as many areas as possible, including this Master's, in the hopes the end goal will become clearer.

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Preschool! Preschool! Preschool! As mentioned, my brief stint in a two year old class solidified my desire to work with older children, specifically 3-5. While I love teaching, spending time on the carpet, getting messy in the art area, and all the little moments in the children's days, I do not see myself as teaching for the rest of my career. Reciprocally speaking, I do not desire to work in administrative contexts, persay, like directing. I have a passion for teacher-training, and would love to feel as if I am doing something on a grand scale. After my Nicaragua trip, and even with the different demographics of preschool children I have worked with so far, I find myself most interested in how to address inequalities among and across ECE programs. My time in Jumpstart was spent predominantly with ELLs, as well, which I also found very intriguing. In shorter terms, I am most interested in ensuring the most preschool children receive the best early education possible.

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Still don't feel as if you know enough about me? Here are a few fun facts to help with that:

- As evident in NONE of the pictures I have shared here, I actually have 9 tattoos, each of profound significance to me, and want many, many, more.
- I played rugby for both my high school, and UC Irvine, totaling 8, almost 9 years of play across the country, from Tennessee, to Idaho, to Oregon, and of course, here in good ol' California.
- My favorite children's books are M.A.D.L.Y, anything Winnie the Pooh, and the dinosaur series. I have no idea what media children are into these days. I am still under the impression that the shows I watched as a child are still relevant and cool. I cannot keep up with the times. What is a Paw Patrol? PJ what? Help.