Reflective Overview

I have always loved education. From a young age, I enjoyed learning and gathering

knowledge. I loved school from the first day, and I always knew I would someday work toward

my doctorate. However, I did not always have a steady direction about what I wanted to learn. I

went to the University of Texas at Austin for my undergraduate degree and changed majors more

in my three years there than most would do in ten. I started out as a political science major,

switched to philosophy, then to linguistics, humanities, and finally geography. I intended on

becoming a broadcast meteorologist, but just before graduation I changed my mind again.

After getting my degree, I enrolled in Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene to gain my

teaching certification and earn my Master of Education in Gifted and Talented. I had found my

new passion, and I quickly set about trying to find a PhD program that would enable me to go to

school while working in my beloved hometown of Breckenridge. But, there was not a suitable

program to be found. I am truly glad of that, because it allowed me to morph into a new area of

passion: educational technology.

I decided to come into this doctoral program while at a technology conference. In my

first class, I focused on what I thought would be my overarching research goal: technology in

rural K-12 schools. However, with each new class, I found a new direction or a new facet to

research. I loved exploring the theoretical underpinnings of my profession with topics such as

Gagnes Nine Events of Instruction or Mayers Principles of Multimedia. I relished the

opportunity to research my own colleagues in my small school to see what types of professional

development would most impact them. I designed instruction for my classes in a way that I had

never done before, and I applied various theories to my daily practice in my classroom in an

attempt to improve myself in the realm of education.

 As I now enter the last phase of this program, I realize how much I have grown. I have

gained an immense set of skills and knowledge that I feel confident I can continue to wield to

help my students and fellow teachers utilize the available technologies for the betterment of the

classroom. And yet, I also realize how much has stayed the same: I am still very interested in

studying gifted students and how they use technology---especially in the rural setting. I am also

maintaining my pragmatic nature whereby I place a higher value on learning that can directly

impact my practice or that of my fellow teachers.

I know that even though I am nearing the end of this program that I am not finished

learning. I am a work in progress. I want to take the skills that I have gained in this program and

build upon them as I move forward. I will take the learning that has been bestowed upon me by

my faculty and share it with my students, my campus, and my district. I hope to eventually make

an even larger impact by teaching future teachers as they prepare to enter our ever-changing

profession. No matter what manner of technology awaits them in the classroom, I know that

they need a sound theoretical understanding of how best to utilize it, and I want to be the one to

help them on that journey. That is how I can give back to the academic world that has been so

generous with me.