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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Autobiographical Essay

Montgomery, Kayla

Professor Samra Culum-Williams

EDUC 201- Foundations of Education

Spring 2021
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I heard this a lot when I was growing up.

I would always say that I wanted to be a teacher, but friends and family would usually advise me

not to be a teacher. They would say, “Teachers don’t get paid much and you have to deal with

children all day long.” Hearing this made me stop wanting to teach until I went to college and

that’s all I found passion for. I want to help children excel and grow in education and skills. By

teaching it makes my dream come true of becoming a teacher and helps other children’s dreams

come true. A teacher guides a child to a road of success. For me, teaching will not only help

children become successful and develop skills but will build and gain relationships as well.

Educational Background:

I was a Kimberly Bulldog my entire educational life. I attended Kimberly elementary

where I gained my love for teaching. One teacher in particular, Mr. Butler, helped me to know

what a great teacher is. His love and excitement for teaching made me remember him to this day.

One example of him that I remember is he would always have the room decorated differently

every week. He would decorate and put information on the board about what we would be

learning about that week. He was using the whole class environment to help teach us. As a

student, I always looked forward to what his room would look like the next week and what we

would be learning from it. From Mr. Butler using his resources of his whole class, he helped

students get passionate about learning. I want to strive to be like him; involving students every

day in the activities, a fun classroom, and showing excitement about what I will be teaching. I

want students to remember and love learning from me, like I remember Mr. Butler and the things

he taught.

I then went on to Kimberly Middle School and High School to graduate in 2016.
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

After graduation, I took a few years off of school and had a full-time job to save money. About a

year and a half after saving I felt comfortable enough to start college, so I did. I have been

attending the College of Southern Idaho since then, pursuing my degree in elementary education.

I have this spring semester and a couple classes in the summer and I will have graduated with an

associate of art. I then plan to teach at the Buhl School District or attend Idaho State for a degree

in Elementary Education and minor in physics. I’m excited to continue learning so one day a can

become a teacher.

Work History:

My first job was a family business, I worked for my dad at Maxie’s Pizza while I was in

high school. During my senior year I wanted to explore on my own and see what work was like

away from family so I got a job at a soda shop, called Sips. I worked there for about 3 years, and

became store manager. As store manager, I had a lot of responsibility over employees and

produce. That job showed me that I loved being a leader. From making the schedule, hiring and

firing, ordering and picking up produce, and building relationships with different age groups and

cultures. I found that those experiences have helped me become a leader. Being a leader is

important as a teacher because you have a classroom full of students looking to you to teach

them and guide them to success and better education.

My jobs have also taught me how to manage time and respond to tough situations. For

time management, I had to make sure orders were placed at certain times and that people were

not waiting on their drinks for too long. Some tough situations I had to deal with involved wrong

orders and angry customers. I learned from the years how to address and correct the mistakes. A

saying I always use is, “the customer is always right.” By gaining these values in the work place

I will be able to apply them in education. I will be able to keep track of and set outlines of each
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

subject and activity to ensure the class and I get through it on time. I also will keep students on

track by setting reminders on the board of what assignments are coming up. I will be able to

know when to have fun in the class and when to be serious. I will be able to address students’

problems by staying calm and collected and resolve them. I believe the key to resolve tough

situations is clear communication and ensuring that everyone is okay with the outcome.

Service/Extra Curricular Activities:

I love to serve, even something as simple as giving someone a snack or a smile makes me

feel like I might have made a difference in their life. I have done some service in the LDS

Church. I have helped an older couple for years with any needs they can’t do anymore. I have

done some family history work for my family and other families. The service that I feel impacted

me the most growing up would be volunteering at the soup kitchen. My family or the church

would go once a month. At first, I thought it was scary when I was younger but now I have

gained some valuable caring traits. Caring for those who don’t have much has made me a better

person and I have new friendships with them. I have found that building a relationship and caring

for each child in a classroom will help them develop and adapt better. I believe that from my

experiences of caring for the less fortunate it’s important in becoming an educator because a

teacher needs to care for each child. Some students may be less fortunate than others but each

one of them need to be cared for. Caring in a classroom will not be feeding them but it will be

making sure that each student understands the contexts you are teaching. I will make sure I care

about each student not just the group. I want to see each child grow and develop in their

education so it’s important to care about the students and their well-being. From doing service

throughout my life I know that I want to serve the children in my class to make them feel loved

and cared for.

I have also had the privilege to be on various sports teams and also coach basketball. By

being on the team as a player and now as a coach, I have found the value in teamwork. If the

team does not come together and play together than the game falls apart. By having teamwork,

the players will know that each one of them have their back. Teamwork will be important to

teaching because it will develop communication and social skills. The students and I will be able

to actively participate and build upon each other’s ideas, thoughts, and actions. From being a

team in the class, the students will gain relationships with each other as well.

Why Teach:

I liked the idea of teaching ever since I was little but people tried to lead me astray to

different careers. I am beyond happy that I went with my gut and that I’m becoming a teacher. I

decided teaching was for me because I love learning and being with children. Children have such

an open mind and I love the way they think. By becoming a teacher, I will get to teach children,

but they will teach me as well. I want to be a role model and help guide them to a successful

life/career. I want to show my dedication, love, and skills to my students and hopefully make a

difference in each child’s life.

I also love the benefits of being a teacher. I will be able to be go to school with my

children and stay on top of their success as well as my students. Having holidays and paid

vacations is a huge benefit as well. I love the insurance that comes with being a teacher and the

retirement plan that can be set up.

Professional Goals:

My short-term goals include finishing up college, graduating and getting a job at the Buhl

School District. I plan on doing my field experience and student teaching there as well. During

those experiences I will work on teaching methods and activities that will help in the classroom.
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

By investing my time and effort into the school I hope a job will open up for me to work there. If

it does not go through I want to find an independent pre-school or kindergarten to help teach at

until a job is opened in Buhl. To ensure these goals are met, I plan to keep up on my assignments

and plan a trip to Hawaii when I graduate. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii so that is a

major push for me to graduate. During my field experience, I am going to focus on how they

teach and how much the students interact in the lesson. I want to see for my own classroom what

methods could help students stay intrigued and active in my own class.

For my long-term goals, I plan to go do continuing education classes. I hope this will

keep my up to date and know what different techniques or being used in the class to help

children learn better. To ensure I achieve this goal I plan to sign up or pay for the classes right

when they become available. I will want my co-workers to learn new methods as well so I will

push them to go with me. Another goal I want to achieve it learning Spanish. I want to learn

Spanish because a lot of the Buhl School is Hispanic and only speak Spanish. It would be very

beneficial for parents and the students to have the teacher who can communicate well with them.

To achieve this goal, I plan on getting the babble application to begin with. It will be a simple

15-minute lesson each day and once I have learned a few phrases and words, I may expand to a

Spanish class. I will also will learn some Spanish from my friend when we go to lunch each

week. She will help me with pronunciation and wording. I hope that I will come out knowing

enough to communicate a little with my students’ parents.

Conclusion:

I believe that helping children succeed and become better is the greatest success a teacher

can ask for. By seeing a child in your class, grow up and graduate will make you and other
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

teachers feel like they made a difference in that child’s life. I am excited to start this journey of

teaching and see what differences I can make in someone’s life.