Why am I in college project Abigail Rogne

College. The word in itself was enough to scare the life out of me as a high school senior. I had always heard people saying they werent college material, and I felt that that could apply to me as well. I was afraid of not only leaving home, but the financial burden that would be put on me and my parents. I had no plan to even apply for any schools. I thought that maybe I could find something that didnt require a degree, so I could avoid the whole thing entirely. Then one day our schools career coach came into my English class to talk about universities in our state. She told us about scholarship opportunities and the different programs that were available at the schools. After she spoke to the class, I decided I would apply to a few schools, if only just to see if Id get accepted. I got into every school that I applied to, and I was awarded the most scholarships to UALR. This is when I started trying to plan my entire future in about a week. I started out my first semester at the university with the intentions of pursuing a nursing degree. It was about halfway through the semester that I realized it was not for me. So looking at other options and researching everything a bit more carefully than I had previously, I chose Early Childhood Education as my major and art as a minor. It was not until deciding on my major for the second time that I began to think about why I came to college. I came not only to find what it was that I wanted to do with my life but also to follow through with my degree plan and reach my goals. I came to college and stayed at my university, to become an elementary school art teacher. Ive always had a passion for the arts;

Ive painted for years and sculpted and drawn. I have volunteered at day cares and even shadowed an art teacher. These experiences tell me that I have chosen the right path for myself. In order to enter the early childhood education courses, you have to finish the 44 hour core requirements. They are courses including written literacy, speech literacy, a choice of college algebra or college mathematics, philosophy and methods of science, social and cultural awareness, historical consciousness, and international awareness and ethical and moral consciousness. After these courses are completed, you have to be admitted to the program. Admission to the program depends on a few conditions. You must be formally admitted to UALR. You must have completed composition I and II, and either of the required math courses, with a grade of C or better. After all core requirements are completed you must have a cumulative average GPA of 2.65 or a 3.0 on the last 60 hours. You have to submit your official Praxis I scores to the licensure advisor, and submit your application form. This all seems like a lot of work, but thats what college is for, and it is still a lot of fun. Dont let this scare you. Once all this is completed you start the early childhood education courses. They are divided into five blocks, the whole program is 73 hours combined, and there is a floating block meaning you can take the classes included in it at any time. In the floating block the classes include a three hour second language class, health and safety in ECE, sociology of the family, and history of Arkansas. In the five blocks of courses you get into learning more about children and how to teach, and you even get an internship with a teacher whose career you are interested in.

A degree is necessary in order to become a teacher, so if that is your intention then it is very important to complete your degree requirements. Having a degree is how schools know that you are qualified to teach. To become a teacher is my goal in college, and I know that following the degree plan is the only way to do it. I must be in good academic standing to be considered for the program so my academic goals are to get at least a 3.5 each semester that I am here until I graduate. With studying and planning, this goal is completely reachable. I want to be a teacher because I want to help students to learn how to do something that they didnt know before coming into my classroom. Teaching a child something new has been the most fulfilling thing in my life, and I want to continue to do it as a career. People talk about the salary as a negative thing, but even if teaching paid less than it does now I would still want to do it. Also, the salary increases with experience and you get off work on major holidays and summer. You have to have passion for the thing you turn into a career for yourself, and I have a real passion for teaching children how to make something new that they can call their own masterpiece, and maybe to show a child a skill that they never thought they had.

Works cited

1.) UALR, . N.p.. Web. Feb 2014. <http://ualr.edu/teachered/uploads/2011/03/eced_brochure2.pdf>. 2.) Smith, J.. N.p.. Web. Feb 2014. <http://www.teacherportal.com/salary>.