Cecilia Loma

 
My Journey
  My journey to becoming a teacher wasn’t straight forward. When I was younger, I

wanted to become a Nurse, I would see how my grandma with Alzheimer and diabetes struggled

and I wanted to be there for her and help her in some way or another to feel better, but I couldn’t

do much to help. When I started college, I went into the path to becoming a Nurse, but I soon

realized Nursing wasn’t for me since the beginning when I took a class for Nursing. I soon began

to question myself “What do I see myself doing in the future and/or passionate about?” When it

finally hit me why don’t I major in Liberal Studies teaching students in Elementary School?

Since the age of 15 years old I have been working with kids from The Boys and Girls Club as

well I have worked as an After-School Program tutor for a bit over 4 years. I was also a TA in a

3rd and 6th grade classroom and I’m currently a student teacher in a First grade classroom

teaching virtually. 

I had a professor in college who I was able to talk to when I was having trouble at home.

She helped me surpass the struggles I was going through. Not all teachers go above and beyond

in putting extra time for their students. I would like to be a teacher who gets to know their

students and goes that extra step(s) which could really make a big difference in their educational

and personal life. Knowing I made an impact in a child’s life would be the best reward I could

receive. For example, at my job as a tutor I had a child who came into the program not knowing

how to really read and was behind from her classmates. As I sat with her helping her to read

books at her level and as weeks passed, I noticed that her reading was improving significantly

since she started. I was very happy when I found out that her reading scores had improved.

Situations like this are the reasons why I want to become a teacher to be able help a child
succeed, to have a better future and if I could make a difference in their life in some way or

another. 

Throughout the semester I have learned and received new information about becoming a

teacher. For example, reading Teacher Wars really opened my eyes that back then teachers were

not seen that important and were mis paid as well. It’s really sad to know that teachers have to go

through strikes to get their issues heard, especially how they are the ones shaping our next

generations. Being able to hear from current educators helps me really realize why I want to

become a teacher to know I could make a difference in shaping someone’s future for the better.

Seeing the video, The First Year showed me a sneak peek of what the years to come will look

like when I become a teacher. Which I really enjoyed, and it helped me really picture myself as a

teacher. Also, got me thinking about what I would do differently or somewhat similar to be a

better teacher. To be someone my students can look up to and to be trusted to be a better student.