Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Autobiographical Essay
Hailey Hurd
Professor Kristin Beck
EDUC 201 Foundations of Education
Online: Fall 2010
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Autobiographical Essay
School has always been one of my most favorite and positive experiences. I have always
looked back on my school years as something that I thoroughly enjoyed and would happily do all
over again! I was one of those students who finished all the homework that I could in class, not
because I didnt want to do it at home, but because I was anxious and excited to do it. When I did
have homework that must be done at home, I always tackled it right away and completed it as
soon as I could. I hope that with all my various experiences in life, my goals and my absolute
love for learning, I will be able to influence children and teach them to love learning and school
as much as I do.
Educational Background
I went to quite a few elementary schools as a child. I attended kindergarten in Springdale,
Idaho, then we moved to Utah for a while where I attended Redwood Elementary for first and
second grade. After that, we moved to California where I attended Center Street School during
third grade, then back to Burley, Idaho where I completed fourth and part of fifth grade at
Mountain View Elementary. For the duration of fifth grade through half of seventh grade we
moved back to Utah where I attended James E. Moss Elementary and Eisenhower Junior High
School. Finally, we settled in Idaho where I finished up at Burley Junior and Senior High
Schools and received my high school diploma. I took a break from education for a while to have
a family. During that break I took an independent study course through the Professional Career
Development Institute and received a diploma in accounting. Recently, I began pursuing my
education again but was still unsure about what I wanted to do. I took the Certified Nursing
Assistant class offered at the C.S.I. and after completing that, I decided that I wanted to be a
teacher so I am currently a freshman at the College of Southern Idaho majoring in elementary
education.
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disabled. I learned that all people learn in different ways and learn at their own pace. Age cannot
tell you what a person should or should not know or what they can and cannot do. All of my
other jobs taught me how to deal with all kinds of different people. I learned that no two people
are the same and even though they may have the same question or problem for you, the way you
solve it may be entirely different depending on the person. These experiences will help me to
adjust my teaching style to every student depending on how they can be taught and teach them to
develop their own way of learning.
Service and/or Extracurricular Activities
In sixth grade, I started playing the violin in the orchestra. I continued to be a member of
the orchestra until high school. As a junior in high school, I decided to try out for the Bel Cantos,
the best choir the Burley High School has to offer. I was in Bel Cantos for both my junior and
senior year. I also participated in the Leo Club and the Physics Club during my high school
years. I have not done much community service throughout my life, however, as a member of the
Bel Cantos, I was able to sing for different groups of people with the choir. I also had the
opportunity to watch my daughter dance for the elderly at various nursing homes while she was
learning ballet and tap dancing at 5678 Dance. It was wonderful to see the peoples faces when
they watched the kids dance for them. I have volunteered to help out with a variety of things in
my childrens classes at school as well.
These experiences have taught me how to work as a team. If everybody does not put in
their fair share of work, the whole team suffers. If even one member of our orchestra or choir did
not put forth the effort to practice, it affected the way the whole choir and orchestra sounded. I
have also learned the importance and significance of helping others even if it is not required. Not
only does it make their lives better, but it also has a great impact on your own life. This alone
makes service so overwhelmingly worth it. I hope to be able to teach my students how important
it is to work as a group as well as individually. I would also like to instill in them a love for
community service.
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Some of my short-term goals are to get a degree in elementary education and secondary
education with an endorsement in mathematics. I would like to complete the elementary
education program first, and then I would like to teach for a while before continuing on to the
secondary education program. Another one of my goals is to learn sign language and Braille so
that I will be able to help all of the children in my classes. I plan on taking courses for these
while working on my elementary education degree.
I believe that I have had some experiences that will greatly contribute to my career as an
educator. I would like to be able to teach students of all ages and skill levels. I hope that I will be
a great teacher because of the things I have learned from all of my life experiences. I cannot wait
to achieve my goal of getting a degree in elementary education so that I can start to influence
childrens lives and teach them the value and joy of a wonderful education!