The Road to a Little Girl’s Dream

They were after us. We snuck through the back exit to the car as quickly as

possible. We slammed the truck doors and sped off into the night. We raced back to my

house with them hot on our trail. My grandma mastered sharp turns, short cuts and

backways through neighborhoods. Brent’s eyes widened with excitement as he stared

at the headlights behind us.

“Brent, I think we’ve lost them,” she exclaimed while trying to conceal a smirk.

“No, they’re right over there,” I insisted, pointing to a few cars behind us.

“Pull over before they see us!” He urged with panic.

My grandma parked, killed the engine, and turned off the lights, leaving us in total

darkness. We hunched over and waited breathlessly for them to pass. The car roared

by us, still oblivious to our presence. We stayed there for another minute to be sure and

then we drove off. When we got to my house, we dashed inside and ducked past the

windows.

Brent whispered relieved “We are safe!” .

The truth was: no one was actually chasing us. My grandma and I were

accomplices to my Uncle Brent's imagination. He is five years older than me and has

Down syndrome. We had just left a movie theater after seeing "The Spy Next Door."

Brent was pretending that the “​bad guys”​ from the movie were chasing us. I had played

many imaginary games with Brent before, but this night left a lasting impression on me.

It was the first time I realized how much my grandma enjoyed meeting Brent on his

level. She gave Brent an opportunity to be who he truly is with such joy. It was a nice
break for him to be able to be himself and imagine what he wanted in “​his world​”,

instead of always having to fit the mold for the “​real world​”.

My grandma was a teacher at multiple schools in Dublin, Ohio. I always loved

hearing from my teachers that used to work with her tell me how great she was or share

lovely stories about her. Not only was she a teacher, but she had a unique relationship

with my Brent. It inspired me to volunteer as a Peer Collaborator to work with special

education students. Beginning in middle school, instead of having a study center, I

spent the time helping in their classes. Every time I work with a student, I try to use the

same kind of passion I saw in my grandma.

I've worked with students across the spectrum and have been told by both

special education and mainstream teachers that they see a difference in the students

that I’ve worked with. In tenth grade, I worked with a student that had Asperger’s. He

was mainstreamed into a classroom, but was very resistant to my help. Chris took a

while to adjust to having me in the class with him. He questioned my authority, pushed

back and occasionally refused to work which made me question my abilities. I overcame

the challenge by learning some of his specific quirks and cues to know how to work with

him successfully. In eleventh grade, I had the pleasure to work with another student

whose autism affected his speech so he communicated using sign language. I knew

some basic sign language, but Joseph taught me more throughout the year.

The relationships with Brent and my Peers were my motivation to start studying

to become a special education teacher. As a highschool senior (2016-2017), I was able

to become a student teacher as part of The Dublin Teacher Academy. Through this
program we were taught the basics of the education profession. I learned about

standards-based education, professionalization, diversity, curriculum and instruction,

legal and organizational issues, technology, learning environments, assessments,

learning styles, developmental characteristics and other relevant topics. On top of the in

class knowledge, I also gained experience in classrooms. I was able to observe several

mentors in a variety of classrooms, achieving over 135 hours of student teaching. I was

placed in a third grade early childhood classroom, a middle childhood math classroom,

a high school biology and chemistry classroom, and a middle school language arts

intervention classroom.

The special education placement was my favorite because I am studying to

become a special education teacher. In this placement, I was able to​ work with students

who needed extra individualized instruction. Each week we recorded their progress and

one of my girls improved her score drastically. The “Ah Ha!” moments are the most

rewarding part of being a teacher. ​ In each placement, I had a wonderful mentor who

was able to guide my interest in becoming a future teacher as well as teach me how to

become a great one. I learned classroom management strategies and gained tons of

hands-on experience. I also planned and taught a lesson in each field placement. The

knowledge and experience I have gained from this program is incredible. It was a safe

place to learn, experiment, and become sure in my decision to become an intervention

specialist.

In my four years of college, I expanded my experience by participating in the

First-Year Educational Experience (FEEP), Methods Placements 1 and 2, Summer

Teaching, a Reading Clinic, and Student Teaching. Through these programs, I have

learned how to deliver explicit instruction, communicate with parents, manage problem

behaviors, collect and use data, collaborate, write Individualized Education Programs

(IEPs), and among many more strategies and methods of teaching I can later apply into

my future classroom. These experiences and my grandma’s early example, lead me to

becoming an Intervention Specialist. I love getting to be a part of helping students grow

and achieve their highest success. I cannot imagine a better career!