Through the Eyes of a Pre-Service Teacher
I’m not what you would call a typical student. I’m a former software developer, former stay-at-home mother of two boys and soon to be High School teacher. At the beginning of each term there is always a well-meaning professor who asks “Why do you want to become a teacher?” At first glance this may seem like a simple question to answer, but the truth of the matter was, it isn’t because for a long time I didn’t. After some convincing I went to talk to a Student Advisor from the Faculty of Education – at that point I wasn’t sure I even qualified to apply to the faculty. After my meeting, I was walking on campus and remembering my time as an undergrad many years ago. I was in the faculty of Science taking a Computer Science degree back in the early 90s. I remember vividly looking around the lecture hall filled with 150 students and being a little shocked that I was one of 3 women in the class. That was the moment I decided that I could do this, I could become a Computer Science teacher. I wanted to be a software developer since I was 14 and was lucky enough to have educators that encouraged me to do so. Now, it is my turn to be that person for the next generation of young women.
Returning to academic life was not something I took lightly. After all, I have a family to take care of and a house to run. Returning to the work force was always in the cards once my kids were old enough and now that they were it was time to make a decision. It was always my belief that if you want to change your path in life; you start with education. This is not the first time I turned to education to change the direction of my life. Whether through destiny or design I was unable to secure a job in as an IT professional and after a number of years working at less than ideal jobs, I returned to college and graduated with a certificate of computer analysis and programming (and later with project management) where I was able to secure a job in my chosen field just before the Y2K boom hit. Even though the class size at RRC was considerably smaller, there were still only a handful of women in the class.
Now that I once again find myself in threshold of transition where education is the key. My mission: to balance the gender diversity in computer science. That’s why I want to be a teacher. After all, if you want to change the world whether it is your personal world, or a global community, start with education.
I’m not what you would call a typical student. I’m a former software developer, former stay-at-home mother of two boys and soon to be High School teacher. At the beginning of each term there is always a well-meaning professor who asks “Why do you want to become a teacher?” At first glance this may seem like a simple question to answer, but the truth of the matter was, it isn’t because for a long time I didn’t. After some convincing I went to talk to a Student Advisor from the Faculty of Education – at that point I wasn’t sure I even qualified to apply to the faculty. After my meeting, I was walking on campus and remembering my time as an undergrad many years ago. I was in the faculty of Science taking a Computer Science degree back in the early 90s. I remember vividly looking around the lecture hall filled with 150 students and being a little shocked that I was one of 3 women in the class. That was the moment I decided that I could do this, I could become a Computer Science teacher. I wanted to be a software developer since I was 14 and was lucky enough to have educators that encouraged me to do so. Now, it is my turn to be that person for the next generation of young women.
Returning to academic life was not something I took lightly. After all, I have a family to take care of and a house to run. Returning to the work force was always in the cards once my kids were old enough and now that they were it was time to make a decision. It was always my belief that if you want to change your path in life; you start with education. This is not the first time I turned to education to change the direction of my life. Whether through destiny or design I was unable to secure a job in as an IT professional and after a number of years working at less than ideal jobs, I returned to college and graduated with a certificate of computer analysis and programming (and later with project management) where I was able to secure a job in my chosen field just before the Y2K boom hit. Even though the class size at RRC was considerably smaller, there were still only a handful of women in the class.
Now that I once again find myself in threshold of transition where education is the key. My mission: to balance the gender diversity in computer science. That’s why I want to be a teacher. After all, if you want to change the world whether it is your personal world, or a global community, start with education.