Running head: MYSELF AS AN ADULT LEARNER

ProfessionalDevelopmentandLifelongLearning
WendySmith
EDUC455Winter2015
MyselfasanAdultLearner

MYSELF AS AN ADULT LEARNER

Myself as an Adult Learner

In order to truly look at my educational experiences and see why I am
the person I am today, I think it is important to recognize each level of
education, which has contributed to transforming me into who I am today.
After my thirteen years of primary and secondary education, I transformed
from a child dependent learner to someone who moved out on their own at
seventeen to gain an education and have those adult dependent children be
dependent on me. In my four and a half years of post secondary education,
the growth I have witnessed in myself is exponential. It is hard to describe
the amount of maturity and life experience, which I have gained. It will be
my pleasure to share with you, the stories of my educational timeline, and
the qualities I possess as a result of my educational experiences. To truly
connect to you with my personal experiences and my growth I think it is key
to focus on where I felt I experienced the most transformation. That was
during my first year of college, where I started out at the University of
Alberta before I transferred to Calgary to attend St. Marys University College
to play basketball.
University of Alberta
First Time Failure
This is where a large part of my growth started; living on my own and
going to university was one of the largest changes and obstacles I had to
overcome in my life. The love of school I had developed in my earlier years
was squished with the return of three failing midterms and two midterms

MYSELF AS AN ADULT LEARNER

below my usual average of high eighties. What I had done in the past clearly
was not going to work at a university level. This was the first time I had ever
struggled at school; as for me school had always been an area of praise in
my life. This then became my first true test of my inner strength. I was able
to bounce back and pass all of my courses, even through during the
beginning of October and to many of my professors, it did not look that I was
on the direction to pass. This additionally was a time period in my life where
I learned exactly what I could handle. I became honest with myself and
realized that I could not keep up in all my five classes, and choose to drop
one. For a person with a large background in sports; where I have always
pushed myself and been told never to quit; this was something that I really
struggled with. How could I not be good enough to pass, how could I accept
failure without really trying? But I knew the importance of keeping a F or a D
off of my transcripts, and instead of looking at this as failure, my mom
framed it in a way of I was prioritizing. I was prioritizing the other four
courses to ensure that I focused my academic energy on those other classes
and so I could get good grades in them. It was not that I was failing or
accepting defeat of Calculus. Knowing exactly what you can deal, and when
to ask for help, is something that a first year teacher will have to deal with.
Through this educational experience that I labeled failure, I learned my
limits, and as my university degree continued, I never dropped another
course. I learned that as I grew as a learner, I was able to handle Calculus in
the end. What I want to take from this past experience is that I can tell my

MYSELF AS AN ADULT LEARNER

students, that it is okay to fail or not to understand something, take a step

back, and we together will figure out different ways to tackle it. For me, it
was taking Calculus in my third year, where I had matured and organized my
time in a way for myself to be successful in that course.
Living Alone
I found being away from home one the hardest things I have ever had
to do; I did not realize the amount I relied on having my safety blankets, of
my friends, my then boyfriend, and my family. Classes were hard on me as it
was and therefore I had to teach myself how to study and how to time
manage. I became a very detail orientated learner, and knew exactly when
everything was due and when I was doing it. My day planner became
something I did not leave home without. Before my life was a bit more
scattered and I wasnt always as timing with the finishing of my assignments.
This change of pace and style in they way I conducted myself, allowed me to
now possess qualities important for a teacher. As teachers, you need to
timely and have most details of your lessons planned out. From my
educational experiences at the U of A, I became a person who would then
make a stronger teacher. Another aspect of attending the U of A that
transformed me into the adult learner I am today is the fact I had to live on
my own to attend school. Living on my own, maturated me quicker than
someone who had maybe stayed at their parents house to attend college. I
grow up in my first semester, and really truly believe that my living situation
directly related to my growth. I did not only focus on my growth and a new

MYSELF AS AN ADULT LEARNER

way of learning in my first semester, but I additionally focused on cooking on

my own for the same time, travelling through a foreign city, and learning a
new way of life.
St. Marys University College
It is all about the Hoops
This brings us onto part two of my post secondary; St. Marys
University College (STMU). I transferred to Calgary because a key part of my
life was missing: sports. Now I understand this part should focus on events
which contributed to where I am today, and for me it is basketball and my
passion for athletics. When I transferred to STMU I joined their collegiate
basketball program, where I stayed and played for the next four years. The
qualities I learned at the U of A were heightened and additionally added to.
Sports in general have the ability to create tough, hard working individuals,
and that was the case for myself. I know my first year of teaching will be a
grind, just like my first year of college basketball was, but if you continue to
push, gratitude will be your reward in the end. For me, my gratitude in
sports came from me being captain for the last two seasons I played. The
gratitude for me as a teacher will be seeing my children understand and
really grasp what I am trying to teach them. From basketball, I became a
leader within my peers, grew in my capacity to listen to others and take
others viewpoints as valid, not just follow within my own. I strengthened my
ability to work well with others as I was on a team where we collectively had
more loses than wins each season. This additionally helped me to learn to

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deal with frustrated and upset personalities, something I feel I will

experience at the elementary level. I understand the way I will deal with
children and my teammates will be different and each situation needs to be
dealt with individually. But my life of a student athlete created opportunities
for me to practice these people skills, as I was exposed to those difficult
personalities.
Conclusion
My choice to become a teacher was set early in my life. I think I
always just knew. Teaching children to play basketball, and seeing them get
it, is one of the most rewarding things I have experienced. So for me, seeing
a childrens creative light bulb brighten, or seeing a student finally
understand a tough math problem or hard science experience, I think would
be equally as rewarding. Even in my first year of university where I was
pushed to my limits and forced out of my comfort zone, I found the light
through thinking about the end goal. The end goal was always to be an
educator, a mentor, even a role model for my students. I have always
bonded well with teachers, and I want to make students to feel equally as
comfortable as many of my past teachers did. The dominant qualities I knew
I had surfaced throughout my educational experiences. When I envision the
ideal teacher, a see a person who is kind and has a caring nature, with the
ability to listen but as well the ability to excite their students about school.
Teachers have to think on their toes, especially at an elementary level, as the
questions they receive from children will be wide and vast. With the

MYSELF AS AN ADULT LEARNER

emphasis of equal testing across provinces, students also have to learn the
curriculum in a timely fashion, which is another quality an ideal teacher
needs to hold. When I compare myself to the teacher I just described, I know
it would be nave of me to say I will be exactly the ideal teacher, but I know I
will continue to grow into something similar to that ideal. Everything I have
gone through is the reason I am here at the University of Calgary today. My
present has all been shaped from my prior experiences, and I know I will
continue to make choices that will change who I am today as well.