Cristina's Paper

A significant event that occurred in my life that made me want to become a teacher was as a student I had some really great teachers as well as some really bad ones. All I thought about was when I grow up I will go to school and become one of the great teachers. Well, it did not happen that way; I did not finish high school and I started my family at a young age so my dreams were put on hold.
Being a mother at such a young age changed my plans, I had to take a different approach to ensure that when my children are old enough I would return to school to get my degree and become a teacher. So, I received my General Education Diploma. Four years later my first child started school so I got involved in all her school activities. I helped with whatever the teacher needed; there were times I would cut things out, other times I would sit and read to the children while the teacher stepped out, and other times I would help the children with their sight words. The following year was when I realized that this is exactly where I wanted to be and make a difference in the lives of the children.
After volunteering in my children’s classrooms for years, I decided I would go to school to at least become a teacher’s aid. At the time I had met a teacher, Mrs. Zinno I told her my plans of becoming a teachers aid, she suggested that if I was going to go back to school for two years just to be an aid, why not go for another two years and become a teacher. I did alternative certification to become a paraprofessional or a teacher’s aide. When I completed my paraprofessional certification I still felt that it was just not enough. The words of Mrs. Zinno stuck in my head, I knew if I could complete this I could keep going; I set my goals higher. I attended Tarrant County College and received my Associates Degree; then I thought, “why stop here?” So, I continued to work on an Associates in Education.
Now, I am working on my Bachelors Degree so that I can teach in my own classroom and become one of the great teachers out there. I believe that if I become one of the great teachers that that students like to come back to, there will be one less bad teacher. My goal is to be a teacher that makes a difference in the lives of the students that I teach as well as any other student that is willing to be helped.