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Autobiographical Essay

Ashley Clark

Professor Brad Hunt

EDUC 120 002W Foundations of Education

Fall 2017
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Educational Background

I was homeschooled all the way until I began college at the College of Western Idaho.

Through 1st grade and up until 12th grade, my mom picked out curriculum and guided me

through my homework. She was pretty hands-on during my earlier years, but as I hit high school

I was able to get through most of my schoolwork by myself. I took all the courses that other kids

are required to take, math, science, English, and the like, including extracurricular classes like

drama. I completed most of my schooling in California, but moved to Idaho when I was in 11th

grade. That year I joined a co-op, where other homeschool families gathered once a week to take

classes taught by the various parents of the families. Through that co-op I took classes like

biology and American government, which would have been more difficult to get through on my

own. After graduating high school, I immediately began attending college at CWI, and am now

in my third semester here.

My most influential educational experience was definitely a week-long mock legislature that I

attended, where I was required to write a bill and present and debate it before a mock house of

representatives composed of my peers. I learned all about the political process and ran for

‘representative’ and was elected, making several speeches. I also took several different classes

outside of my regular curriculum, like a California history class, and our family went to many

different museums and took family ‘field trips’ to places like the Grand Canyon, where we

would learn about the history through reading about it beforehand or going to museums about it.

One of the best outcomes from my homeschooling experience was my ability to think for

myself and be self-motivated to finish my schoolwork. I feel like this has prepared me for

college, and that I can help my students prepare for college by giving the tools to think critically

and really use their brains, instead of just memorizing questions and being apathetic about
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learning. Fostering a love of learning is what makes school enjoyable, and keeps me learning

even outside of school.

Work History Service and Extracurricular Activities

My first job was working as a virtual assistant for a health food blogger for 3+ years. I

managed her social media presence and marketed her recipes, while also helping her edit and

create posts. This was a major growing experience for me, where I learned to manage and have a

lot of responsibility, to organize time and schedule recipes, and how best to market to certain

demographics. I have been volunteering at my church as a Sunday School teacher for

preschoolers every Sunday for the past 2 years, and I also volunteer as a middle school leader at

youth group every week, teaching small groups and going to camps as a leader. This has given

me leadership skills, helped me practice working successfully with others, and given me

experience working with kids. Currently, I teach a class of 4 year olds once a week for a program

called MOPS (Mothers Of Pre Schoolers), of about 20 kids with an assistant. I teach a lesson,

organize playtime and cleanup, and coordinate snack time. This has helped me with

organizational and leadership skills, as well as given me more experience with kids.

All of these work experiences has definitely aided in giving me the skills that I will need as a

professional educator. Knowing how to manage time and be organized is essential for any kind

of educational position. I have always worked with kids, so I am very comfortable around them

and have a lot of experience directing them and teaching them, while making sure I’m the kind

of person that they can respect and look up to. Wrangling kids can be like herding cats, but I am

pretty confident that with experience I can keep a classroom under control.

Ethical Reasoning in Education

A common problem in many classrooms is cheating. With the dramatic influx of

smartphones in classrooms and increase in information exchange due to the readily available

internet and online forums, it is easier than ever to cheat. Sometimes, kids want to do well

without doing the work, and go out of their way to find ways to get around actually learning and

decide to cheat. Other times, it is simply so accessible and easy to cheat, kids do it without a

second thought. It’s just the thing that everyone else is doing, and while they might know that

it’s wrong, they might not think that it’s a very big deal. It is a big deal, however. Cheating stunts

learning, by removing the step of actually acquiring knowledge that will benefit these kids in

their lives. Sometimes, their test scores are more important than actually learning the material -

when this is the entire reason for their education! Providing them with knowledge to help them

navigate the world, not just produce the correct answers for a test.

One of the ways I think we could mitigate this extensive problem is to impress upon the kids

the importance of their education. Show them that the reason they are learning is for themselves,

not just because they’ve been told to memorize something. If the kids can understand this and

come to love and respect their teacher, it can be communicated to them that cheating is hugely

disrespectful to their teacher, and doesn’t benefit them at all in the long run. I, as a teacher, want

to make it very clear that I only want the best for my kids, and part of them becoming good

citizens is not just being knowledgeable and informed, but also being good people, with high

morals. Being able to better themselves in my classroom is important, but it also sets them up for

success and helps them practice bettering themselves for the rest of their lives. We can always be

better people, and make better decisions, and the extends far beyond the classroom, and into their

adulthood.
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Reasons for Choosing Education as a Career

I had never really considered education as a career until fairly recently. It just wasn’t

something that was on my radar, especially since I was homeschooled - I didn’t have much

experience with teachers. I had always enjoyed being around kids, and babysat often. Like many

high schoolers, I had no idea where I wanted to go in life, or what I wanted to do. It wasn’t until

someone suggested the role of a teacher as an option for my career that I even thought about that

path, but the idea seemed like a good one, and the more people I talked to about it, the more I

heard “that would be perfect for you!”. So I decided to jump in and start taking courses for

teaching. A little before I started college, I was asked to teach Sunday school for the preschoolers

at my church. I liked teaching them and talking to them very much and decided that I would

thoroughly enjoy being an elementary school teacher. That sealed the deal. Now I’ve had several

opportunities to lead and teach classes, and in each instance I get more excited fo r my future job

as a teacher.

Being able to instruct little ones and make learning an exciting and enjoyable experience for

kids is a huge reason why I’m looking forward to my role as an educator. I love hearing stories

about ‘that one teacher’ that really opened people’s eyes to the thrill of the discovery of

knowledge, and though it’s a lofty goal, that is the sort of teacher that I strive to be. Trying to

reach kids individually, to connect them to the material, and foster a relationship with them are

some of my goals. Seeing kids get excited about learning - that’s what it’s all about. I’d love to

create the same good learning experience that I was given as best as I possibly can.

So many times I see kids that are burnt out on their education. They go to school every day,

learn about something they don’t care about, and joylessly memorize the material so that they

can get a mediocre grade. Or they are only cramming information so that they won't disappoint
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their parents. Or maybe they’ve given up altogether, past the point of caring and not even doing

any work. That is the opposite of why I believe school should instill in these kids! School should

equip you for life-long learning, foster a lust for education so provide the information you need

to live your best life. That is what I hope to achieve as a teacher.

Professional Goals

My ultimate goal is to become an elementary school teacher somewhere local. To do so, I

plan on transferring to a different college to get my bachelor’s degree, after I earn my associates

degree at CWI. That other college will either be Boise State University or Northwest Nazarene

University. Both have very good education programs, and I feel that I would learn a lot from

studying at either of these colleges.

My goal for the near future is to get a job that will help give me experience for my career of

teaching. I already teach a small class of preschoolers every week, which has already taught me

some invaluable tools that I will be able to use down the road. I’ve thought about applying to be

a substitute teacher at a school nearby, since I have a friend who teaches there and has

recommended subbing to me. This would give me some incredible work experience.