Veronique Vashon

EDU 202
Roster #21
A Portrait of Veronique

In all my twenty-five years of walking this earth I never thought I would end up

here. I was the girl growing up who was disgusted by children. The one who cried out “I

never want kids” and swore she would just be someone's rich aunt. And now I am sitting

in a class dedicated to teaching me how to teach children. “She won’t last” was

murmured by many friends and family. “I get you want to help people, but kids?” others

would chime in. And even I was a bit surprised by the turn of me going from a the idea

of me going from being a Cocktail Waitress and living life to how I deemed with other

adults, to wanting to sit in front of teenagers and try to benefit them in the ways that I

was denied going through school. Thus, leading me into being swallowed by the jaws of

the Las Vegas casino system and fighting tooth and nail to escape it.

Going through my entire schooling life I had the pleasure of being everyone’s target

for bullying, I’ll save the details on this sob story but it followed me into my first year of

college. What I noticed most was teachers letting it happen and the way they “fixed” it

was by isolating me into a corner by myself. Its easy to say my social skills where

stunted. The bullying was one thing but to have ‘College is the only way’ drilled so deep

into my skull I was leaking the same what I would say outdated phrases and information

I was fed. All in all I remember feeling absolutely lost and confused and when it came

time to do college I hated it and everyone I sat around, a bitter little girl forced into a

mold she was told was the only way. And the last thing I recalled when I decided to drop

out was. ‘I can never go back, they always say once you leave you dont go back’ And

with turning twenty one the jaws of a casino job would snap on me.
Veronique Vashon
EDU 202
Roster #21
Obviously, none of this is true as I sit and write this assignment to become a bane of

my adolescent life and turn it into being a light in the life of someone who was once in

my same shoes. I was the child who struggled, the child who no matter how hard she

tried was put down, being told she would never make it. Having the pleasure of this

class has truly opened my eyes and reaffirmed my beliefs in ways to be a good teacher

and help the future youth. Such as different learning styles and how they could be

applied in the classroom. But these different learning styles should also be applied to

assignments. Creativity is so deeply frowned upon in systems, students are being made

into good testers but they are not getting to express themselves. And with a field like

English wanting to be my major there is so much room to give students a chance to not

only do this, but to learn in other ways.

This idea stems from when I sat down in a actual English class at the High School I

actually went to. The students where discussing something everyone has and everyone

gets made fun of for or praised. Their Dreams and aspirations for the future. Kids

seemed shy at first but as everyone took turns talking their faces would absolutely light

up. To be heard, and not just be heard to be asked about it. Their teacher showed a

genuine interest in hearing what they said and even made comments showing she

cared about what they said asking them to elaborate further or discuss how they will

achieve what they desire. Another class I sat in, still English the teacher showed me an

assignment they did where they made fake news articles on the book they read.

Students had gotten very creative and she told me whenever she gave out assignments

that gave students room to express themselves that was when she had the most turn

ins. Finally in the last class that I sat in they got to do a more traditional style of learning
Veronique Vashon
EDU 202
Roster #21
but instead of skimming through books and other things while working solo. They had

laptops, sat in groups, some sat at a large circular table and had a roundtable

discussion on the topic they worked on.

With so many eye-opening experiences I now hope to blend them all together to

the best of my ability to create a harmony of knowledge and creativity so students can

get a feel what they excel in. And if they do not have an idea I would hope to be able to

guide them in the direction of understanding that school is something you can always go

back to, and that sometimes it might not be for everyone. The goal I have for my entire

future as an educator is to be able to give every student a chance at the best possible

future for themselves no matter what. Because in the end that is what matters and that

is what they all deserve. To know that they are more than capable of being something

amazing no matter where or who they came from.