Kimberly Cronin

August 24, 2014

EDU 221-G11, T/TH 9:10-10:25
Jan Stapleton & Jim Richardson

Why Teach and Autobiography

Let me start by saying I love school. I have spent more than ten years in higher education
studying Structural Engineering. I fit the typical engineer stereotype, I am not good at
expressing my feelings, I am a technical, logical thinker and would rather pull my eyeballs out
than write. That being said, I have tried to write a heartfelt account of my life experiences,
without sounding too methodical.
I have vivid memories and can recall the names of most of my teachers throughout my nursery,
elementary, middle, junior high, high school, community college, under graduate, graduate and
post graduate career. Mrs. Hoffman and Mrs. Albert were my Nursery and Kindergarten
teachers respectively. I remember that both were very nurturing, kind and both connected
with me in a way that made me feel I was the most important person that they had in class. It
is these positive memories that contributed to my lifelong journey to learn.
I have only two specific negative memories of school. The first one, I was in second grade and
sitting in a reading group of about six or seven students and I was stuck on a word that I did not
know. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Koss, leaving me at the table in my chair until I either
figured out what the word was or pronounced it correctly. To this day I still dont know what
motivated her to use such techniques, nor do I remember what the word was. However, what
has stuck with me all these years is the memory of crying and feeling very discouraged and
frustrated. Although I have this negative memory towards this teacher, I also have very warm
and heartfelt memories of her too. The second memory was in seventh grade when I was a
victim of a bully assault that resulted in a blackout, concussion and a medical absence from

Kimberly Cronin
August 24, 2014
EDU 221-G11, T/TH 9:10-10:25
Jan Stapleton & Jim Richardson

school for a week. This experience never left me with a bad feeling about school or learning,
only a dislike for the how the situation was handled within the school. No one associated with
the school ever talked with me about this incident or how the school would protect me from it
happening again.
My first memory of wanting to be a teacher was in tenth grade math class. My teacher, Mr.
Barrier, was the football coach and a no nonsense kind of teacher. I thrived in that kind of
learning environment. We were learning geometry and he was teaching the class how to do
geometry proofs. After a class or two I remember solving the proofs one or two steps ahead of
him and thinking I want to be a math teacher. I also remember being in Spanish class and
enjoying that so much that I wanted to be a Spanish teacher.
As a senior in high school, I took an architectural elective and really enjoyed the class. I drafted,
to scale, plan and elevation views of a deck for my house. My mom took my design and had a
loose interpretation of the deck built. She always credited me for the actual design, which gave
me a sense of accomplishment and I loved seeing the paper design come to life in full scale.
My father earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. My mom earned her high school diploma. I always
remember that I was going to go college. My parents would state things like, when you go to
college or, you will go to college. I thank my dad for my ambition to go to school. After
his passing, three days after my sixteenth birthday, I knew higher education was in my future
and that I was going to get a college education.

Kimberly Cronin
August 24, 2014
EDU 221-G11, T/TH 9:10-10:25
Jan Stapleton & Jim Richardson

After high school I went to Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) in Troy, NY. I earned an
Associate Degree in Civil Engineering Technology. I credit HVCC with teaching me what
structural engineering was about because it allowed me to experience the design portion of
engineering without being bogged down by the theoretical aspects that a four year program
required.
I then went to The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) and earned a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Civil Engineering. I excelled in my field of study because the professors made
the subject matter interesting and relevant to real world applications. The work was definitely
challenging, but I thoroughly enjoyed studying alone or initiating numerous study groups to
help make the subject matter more understandable.
I received a full Civil Engineering graduate scholarship to Colorado State University and a paid
teaching assistant position. As the teaching assistant, I was charged with teaching the
undergraduate materials and testing labs. There was a lecture portion as well as a hands on
testing portion of each lab. I distinctly remember lecturing and looking at the students and
although I tried to make the information interesting, the students still seemed to have blank
looks on their faces. But, when we got into the testing portion of the lab, the students became
more interested and engaging. I was excited about applying what we went over in the lecture
and it showed. I even had some students comment to me that I was too excited. I felt that if I
showed excitement, it would be contagious and the students would also find engineering
exciting. I loved helping the students with the lab, with their homework or with questions

Kimberly Cronin
August 24, 2014
EDU 221-G11, T/TH 9:10-10:25
Jan Stapleton & Jim Richardson

about what engineering path they wanted to pursue. I graduated with a Master of Science
Degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Structural Engineering and Solid Mechanics.
I started working as a structural engineer first designing houses, then metal buildings, and then
event centers, high schools and assisting living complexes. I passed the Colorado State Board
test and am a licensed Professional Engineer. I managed and designed multimillion dollar
projects and being single at that time the long hours associated with the work were not
problematic.
I married my best friend, whom I met my first day at UNCC. Together, we have a six year old
sensitive little boy and a feisty, red headed four year old girl. Before having children, I returned
to CSU to pursue a Doctorate Degree, although I was unable to finish the research portion of
the degree due to the birth of my son. I am currently a stay at home mom and feel this is the
most important job that I have.
Last year my son was in Kindergarten and I had the most rewarding time volunteering in his
classroom. I was extremely impressed with Mrs. Campbell and how she handled 20, five and six
year olds and kept them focused and on their own learning tasks. After helping in the
classroom, talking with her and watching her for the year I got excited about teaching again. I
know that teaching has always been a part of me and over the years have been drawn to it
through study groups, being a teaching assistant, mentoring at work, volunteering in the
classroom and now having the opportunity to return to school to learn about teaching.

Kimberly Cronin
August 24, 2014
EDU 221-G11, T/TH 9:10-10:25
Jan Stapleton & Jim Richardson

As a non-traditional teaching student, I feel my motives to teach are unlike that of a recent high
school graduate. One extrinsic reason why I want to start teaching at this stage in my life would
be a teachers work schedule. It is very desirable to me and my family that I have the flexibility
to be home as much as possible when my kids are home. Becoming a teacher in my childs
school district would allow me this opportunity.
Other extrinsic rewards of status and power do not really factor in my decision of becoming a
teacher. As a secondary teacher the novelty of parents entrusting a teacher with their children
is not as prevalent as it is as an elementary teacher. The power reward actually scares me a
little because having two kids myself they sometimes have a hard time following direction, so,
teaching in a classroom filled with 25 or more students I need to learn how to effectively
communicate to students so I can keep them on task and learning.
School has always been a big part of my life. I have a strong internal desire to continue to learn
and expand my mind. Teaching and working with students so that they can thrive and begin
exploring the career path they want to learn about is inspiring to me, and my biggest intrinsic
reason of becoming a teacher.