Nancy Condon EDU 221-001/Spring 2014 Why I am taking Introduction to Education My personal educational journey has been an interesting

one. I was born in Iowa and raised Catholic. I attended Catholic school for 12 years and with that being said school became interesting. My first grade teacher was Sr. Elizabeth Ann and she would put the fear of God in me. She was a large woman with a loud, crisp bark. Sr. Elizabeth Ann also had a long stick she would bang across the black board to get all of our attention and it was loud. Since Sr. Elizabeth Ann was so intimidating, I would rarely raise my hand to ask questions and my school work started to suffer. I remember having to have a tutor in math during the summer before my second grade year. My tutors name was Miss Flannigan and was not a nun. I was thrilled and felt I could relax a bit. She had an interesting teaching style and at certain times I liked learning from her. One summer afternoon Miss Flannigan decided we were going to go on a field trip to work on subtraction. You will be quite surprised when I reveal where we went, but I want to paint a more vivid picture for you. Back in the 1970s I am not sure if my parents even knew I got into my tutors car with my babysitter to go on a field trip. It was a hot humid sunny morning and my babysitter and I were excited to go somewhere new. Miss Flannigans mobile home was getting a bit boring. It seemed like we were in the car for at least an hour, but I am sure it really wasnt as long as it seemed. My teacher was giddy with excitement the entire drive. I was not paying much attention to where Miss Flannigan was driving us and when we finally reached our destination I was in complete shock.

We were sitting in the parking lot of a very old cemetery out in the country. My curriculum for the morning was to figure out how old the people were when they had died. I was a seven year old little girl who had never been to a cemetery and all I wanted to do was go home. My babysitter and I looked at each other in complete amazement. She smiled at me and said it would be ok. I survived our field trip that day but I think it scarred me for life. That day I learned quite a few children had died and it was sad. I did not know how to express my sadness and kept it in. Growing up I had difficulties in math and the subject of death. I completely feel it was because of this experience. I am not sure why Miss Flannigan did not think of going to the grocery store to do the assignment. Thankfully I can now look back at that experience and laugh. I started my college journey in January of 2010 when I decided to take one little class at Front Range Community College. I thought it would be a great experience to see how I could handle my children, school, and work. It was an eye-opener for sure, but one I am so thankful for. My instructor was motivating and I set high expectations for myself. I treated this one class as if it were my occupation. It was fun doing homework together with my two daughters Allison and Clare. I was a single mom sharing joint custody with their father. Since my spring class was going well I made a commitment to take three classes in the summer and then take four classes in the fall. Two days after summer session started my ex-husband committed suicide and left my children without a father and me as a completely single parent. This experience has been the most challenging time of my life and we are taking things one day at a time. My plans for

classes changed and I ended up taking only one class that summer to be more available for my girls. I have been so blessed to have been educated by so many awesome instructors at FRCC. I truly believe going back to school has been a great diversion of my ex-husbands death. My instructors have kept me focused on what the end goal is and my goal is to earn my bachelors degree in Human Resource Management. I will be transferring to Regis University in the summer of 2014 to complete this journey. This experience has been tough at times and the subject of math has almost put me over the edge, but I have persevered through the pain. The math department at FRCC has been so wonderful with helping me get through the classes I needed for my degree. The math teachers I have had at FRCC are not a Sr. Elizabeth Ann or a Miss Flannigan and that made my math journey even more positive. I am taking Introduction to Education because it will fulfill three of my six credits needed in my Social Science to transfer to Regis in the summer. I spoke to an advisor and she really felt this class would be perfect for me because of the degree path of Human Resource Management. This advisor spoke highly of this class because of the personal interaction the students have with one another. She also expressed the technological aspect that will be taught during the semester and I am actually looking forward to the practicum to observe a high school classroom. From this class I am hoping to gain knowledge of better engaging the workforce when I am in my field as an HR representative with better uses of the computer and other visual aids that may me taught in the next 15 weeks. I am excited to bring something new to the way meetings can be run and not the normal mundane power points. I am willing to learn new ideas that can be beneficial for me as a HR representative because not all people learn the same way.