Running head: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Autobiographical Essay
Courtney Rose
Instructor: Dr. LueLinda Egbert
College of Southern Idaho
Fall 2016

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Abstract

Throughout my life I have had many experiences, and they have all led me to where I am today. I
am working towards a bachelors degree in secondary education, because I want to become a
high school math teacher. Personally, I grew up hating mathematics, and it was not until high
school that I fell in love with algebra. I have now come to love the beauty and pureness of
mathematics, and want to share that joy with others. I have been a youth leader at my local
church, and I did my field experience with kindergartners, fifth graders, seventh graders, and
tenth graders. I have worked in a customer service role, and have dealt with pleasant customers,
and the not-so-pleasant customers, with grace and respect all around. I have experienced public
and private schooling, and throughout my schooling I have participated in many clubs and
extracurricular activities that have propelled me towards wanting to be an involved educator. I
am ready, willing, and excited to one day have my own classroom, and call myself a teacher.

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Autobiographical Essay

Introduction
Tears. That is my earliest memory of my education. Crying hysterically as my mother
abandoned me with strange kids, and even stranger adults. How could she do such a heartless
act? Didnt she love me? Would I ever see her again? Who is this imposter woman smiling at me
now? This is the experience that I went through every single morning of my pre-school and
kindergarten school years. Every. Single. Morning. It was not until first grade that I fell in love
with school, and stopped whining for my mom to return. That is entirely because of beautifully
skilled teachers that opened my eyes to the wonders that is education.
Educational Background
I started my tear-filled education in a small private school. There were maybe ten
students in the largest classroom, and our desks were always arranged in fun designs around the
room. The amount of one-on-one time between the students and the teachers allowed each
individual to truly grasp the content material. When I went into the fifth grade, I attended a
public school for the first time. Class sizes were in the thirties, and our desks were in straight
rows. I loved it! I felt like I was finally in a real school. Like the kind I saw in the movies. I
excelled in public school, made a few close friends (who are still my close friends to this day)
and still yearned to be a teacher myself one day. I would go home after school, do my
homework, and then play school in my basement.
Middle School and high school provided me with some of my favorite years, and an
innumerable amount of memories. My desire for becoming a teacher continued to grow.
However, in the tenth grade my family began to struggle financially. I had no choice but to drop
out of high school, and help take care of my younger siblings. Everyone else in my family

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worked several full time jobs just to make ends meet, while I helped raise my little brother and
sister.
When I turned sixteen I took my G.E.D., passing it on the first try. I then enrolled at the
College of Southern Idaho, and began taking classes that upcoming Fall semester. That way I
could still go to school, get a college education, and make my own schedule that worked around
the schedules of my family members. It did take me a while to try and figure out what I wanted
to major in at college. I still wanted to be a teacher, but other career paths sounded interesting as
well. I earned my Associates of Arts degree in liberal arts from the College of Southern Idaho,
and then continued on to receive my Bachelors of Science in psychology from the University of
Idaho.
The skills that I obtained from my educational background are persistence, honesty, and
responsibility. I have persisted throughout my educational career and experience; no matter what
factors or obstacle have attempted to get in my way. I have always been an honest person to
others, but I found that being honest with myself is one of the best personal policies to have.
Responsibility is one skill that I have always prided myself on having. I respect responsible
individuals, and strive to be one myself. It is difficult to go through school successfully without
being a responsible student, and I would say that I am one.
Work History
I stayed home with my younger siblings and helped to raise them, along with babysitting
throughout my teenage and young adult life. I love children, and I especially loved working with
them, and watching them for the short amount of time I was being asked to, while their parents
were out to dinner and a movie. Within this time, I learned about different parenting styles.

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According to Berns (2016) there are four different parenting styles: authoritarian,
authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved. I never babysat any children who came from parents
with an uninvolved parenting style. What I did find is that the children I babysat for either had
authoritative parents, or permissive parents. The children who had parents with a more
authoritative method to their parenting were respectful young children. They listened to me, and
followed my instructions. Whereas the children who had parents who took a more permissive
approach to parenting were stubborn, difficult, and often times rude. These reactions line up
perfectly with what Berns (2016) describes. I handled both situations well, dealing with each set
of children with grace and respect. We were able to talk through the reasons as to why I asked
them to go to bed at a specific time, and reason with them until we found an understanding and
common ground. It allowed me the chance to learn how to work with willing and unwilling
children from different families, and different socioeconomic statuses.
When I was twenty-four, I worked for an arts and crafts supply store, called Michaels. I
was the lead cashier, which allowed me the ability to learn how to work with money, co-workers,
and the ever so lovely consumer. I am a very upbeat and fun person, and I am understanding and
considerate, so working with all different types of people, in all different types of situations,
caused me to grow as an individual. Being the lead cashier gave me the responsibility to lead a
team, and to handle stressful situation, like when our computer systemwhich ran all of the cash
registerscrashed during the holiday season. I was able to keep the customers, and my fellow
cashiers, at ease while the tech-people were working their magic to get our computer system up
and running again.
Within my customer service work experience, I learned different versions of software
easily. As technology keeps changing, I am confident in my ability to grow with it, and keep up.

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My work experience has also taught me how to be professional when dealing with all types of
people. Many of my soft skills increased, like being able to communicate even more effectively
and respectfully.
Service and Extracurricular Activities
From the ages of eighteen to twenty, I was a youth leader at my church. When the youth
church would go to summer and winter camps over our school breaks, I was also on medic duty.
I was in charge of everyones medicines, while also bandaging up sprained ankles and cuts.
In school I was involved in the art, ceramics, drama, and yearbook clubs. While in the
yearbook club, I also expanded on my photography and graphic design skills. Seventh grade is
when I did drama club. I did get a role in one of the school plays, and I loved it, but I also loved
working behind the scenes.
I did track for a year in eighth grade. Although it was fun, I found that it was just not for
me. It taught me that it was okay to admit that I did not like something and no longer wanted to
continue with it, and that did not make me a failure.
One of my favorite activities that I participated in during my freshman year of high
school was the lunch buddy program. My high school was located next to an elementary school,
and if we signed up for the lunch buddy program we were placed with an elementary student that
needed someone to be their buddy throughout the lunch and lunch recess hour. It taught me so
much, like responsibility, communication, and showing up and being present. However, the most
important thing it taught me was to just be a friend to someone in need. It was a very important
experience in my freshman year, and helped to guide me towards wanting to work with students.
Reasons for Choosing Education as a Career

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I wanted to be a teacher when I was in first grade. I loved my first grade teacher and
classroom, and that is when I started playing school in my basement at home. This desire
persisted all throughout middle school and high school, but when I started taking attending
college, becoming a teacher did not seem like the career for me. At this point, everyone was
going into the medical field, and so naturally I majored in nursing. It did not take me very long to
realize that the medical field was not for me. I changed my major several times, and ended up
receiving my first Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology, from the University of Idaho.
I was beginning to fill out applications for graduate schools, but when I turned twentyfive I asked myself where I saw myself in the next five years, and asked myself what I really
wanted to be doing for the rest of my life. The answer was teaching. It had always been teaching,
and I was just afraid to pursue it. I am now on the track towards getting my second bachelors
degree in Secondary Education, and I could not be more ecstatic!
I know that the rewards for following my heart, and choosing teaching as my career, will
lead to so many incredible moments in my future. The intrinsic rewards are the true reason for
becoming a teacher. I want to teach students subject content and material that they have yet to
encounter in their education, and I want to watch them understand it, and grasp the new ideas
that I will be teaching them.
The extrinsic rewards will be many as well, like having a routine schedule in place, and
decent hours and pay, holidays off so that I can spend time with my family, etc., but the internal
satisfaction is the only reward I truly look forward to receiving.
Professional Goals
My long-term goals are to get my degree in secondary education, with my endorsement
in mathematics. I want to start my career teaching high school math, and earn my masters

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degree within the first five years of my career. I would love to continue my education and get a
Ph.D., either in mathematics or education. I want to buy a home and start a family, and spend my
summers off traveling to other countries.
My short-term goals are to finish all of my introductory education classes, and even
though I have already been accepted to Idaho State University as a student. I want to apply and
get accepted into their education program. I want to finish the novel that I am writing, and spend
as much time as I can with my two-year-old nephew and my younger siblings. I am studying
Spanish and Japanese, as well as Icelandic, and would love to further develop my language skills
in those areas.
Conclusion
I have done many things in my short twenty-five years of life, and I have learned so many
skills and lessons, that I can now use and apply to my future career in the educational field. I
have attended public and private institutions of education, I have worked with children,
teenagers, and adults, all of whom have taught me valuable lessons. I have great communication
skills, I am responsible, and I am ready to be a teacher to the future generations. Even though I
may have started my educational experience with tears, and more tears, I have come to love
school and teachers, and want nothing more than to be one myself. I want to watch childrens
minds expand with knowledge they never thought they would be able to grasp. I cannot wait
until I receive the official title of educator!

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Reference

Berns, R. M. (2016). Ecology of parenting. In M. Lee-Perriard, & B. Chapple (10th Eds.), Child,
family, school, community (pp. 122-165). United States: Cengage Learning.