I’m all for giving and taking personality profiles, learning style profiles and using any self reflection tools where students see themselves as more than students but as individuals in a global community. Too often they feel limited due to their race, gender, socioeconomic status and family history. I want them to step away from that long enough to get to know their own minds and hearts, then use those other factors  as background knowledge so that they can strengthen themselves. I want everyone that I teach or mentor to know there is so much more to them than their student number, brother or sister that has attended the school first etc. If we don’t know who we are and how we fit in the big picture, we can’t open our eyes to the world of possibilities available to us. I am growing and developing everyday. Every child/student’s life that is in my life alters me in some way and how I work to assist that student also affects my growth and development. I work well beyond the hours that many of my peers put in (even before I started school again.) I used to walk down the vacant halls and classrooms in the late afternoons and ask myself what was wrong with me… why I was still there working and they could go home. I have come to realize that, like many of my students, there is nothing wrong with me, I am just different and have a different path to walk. Maybe this is why Robert Frost is my favorite poet. He talks in so many of his poems about being different, stopping and observing, choosing the alternative road, being acquainted with the night when everyone else was inside and asleep. I embrace that I am different and I know that I have a purpose. As I travel this new path as an official student and I learn about leadership I know that I am going to be faced with many challenges and several new paths to choose from. I am praying that I will listen well and choose the right path for me, my family  and future teachers, students and stakeholders. 

Long Term Goals

As a future administrator, I will need to work on/gain...

My plan for overcoming outside barriers and obstacles is to:

With the constant and positive pressure of family and professional mentors and prayers, I finally took the step. I am a passionate learner and no matter what the setting, I am going to find ways of professionally growing, but it was time that I took this step and I am so thankful and feel blessed to be a part of the IL program. Part of the indecision in the beginning was that I was not really able to decide what area to pursue. I have always been interested in special education, but I wasn't sure that at my age that I would want to or be able to continue that. I never really wanted to or planned be a principal either, but working closely with the woman who exemplifies true servant leadership (and has a similar personality as mine) has given me confidence that I can use the gifts God has granted me and the passion I have for learning, and mentoring and leading to facilitate and guide others to making positive changes in educational environments. I believe now that I am on the right path. Right now, my plan is to step into administration a bit slower than possibly my peers in this program, but I am also praying for guidance. The more classes I take, the more I feel windows opening and bringing sweet breezes of possibility. 

I still have some personal issues to work on before I feel I am strong enough to be an administrator. One, I take things personally, and easily get my feelings hurt. I don’t want that to ever affect how I work with other professionals I am leading and working with. I want to be fair, clear and honest without those types of emotions getting in the way. Two, I sometimes second guess myself after I have made a decision. I want and need to build more self confidence. I am getting better in these areas, but, as I learn more about the multitudes of decisions being made by school leaders, I don’t want to be wasting time on silly things. I want to be able to be secure in those decisions I might not have time to digest and pray about. Making decisions that affect so many other lives besides my own is a big responsibility that I want to feel more secure in. 

For now, I am filling my "toolbox" with a multitude of resources and knowledge. I am surrounding myself with the mentors and models that I feel exemplify true leadership and I am constantly praying and listening for guidance.