The Beginning

I recently began a Master's program at Columbia College Chicago to obtain my Art Education degree. I have always loved art and knew that it would be a part of my life. I didn't know that I wanted to teach art until a few years ago. It took me a while to figure out what the right path was for me. In college I minored in art and majored in philosophy. I was an art major initially, but my parents wanted me to get a degree in something more applicable to the job market. But after my first philosophy course, I was hooked. Luckily my father was a philosophy major so even though it was probably less viable job-wise, my parents supported this decision.
The bubble didn't burst until I was getting close to graduation. My advisor and head of the Elmhurst College philosophy department, Dr. Hirstein, and I were discussing what I could do after graduation. I pictured myself working for the Humane Society of the United States, or writing about environmental ethics for an organization. I didn't quite realize that those positions typically require more advanced degrees. He asked me if I had ever considered teaching, and said he thought I would be a great teacher. I professed I had not, and that I was unsure of my patience in that capacity. I never forgot what he said though, and as I matured my patience developed. I worked in animal hospitals when I got out of school for lack of finding anything better, and my love of animals. After two years in the field, however, I knew I was burnt out and needed to find a way to get back to art.
That's when I found Right at School, an after-school and in-school reccess enrichment program. They hired me as an after school educator at Courtenay Fine Arts school in Ravenswood. I also began working as an assistant preschool teacher at that time. Then I was placed to Waters Elementary in Lincoln Square. I was promoted my second year working with Right at School and became a Site Director at Kingsley Elementary in Evanston. I also worked as a recess coach at Hayt School in Edgewater. The two years I worked for Right at School gave me invaluable experience educating children. We taught daily lesson plans and themed enrichment classes, including art classes. I gained so much experience working with children and found I was an effective educator and that others were noticing. I realized that teaching art would be the perfect career for me, applied to Columbia's MAT program, and was accepted! Although I still have a lot of work to do, classes to take and tests to pass, I am determined to succeed.