Recovery has meant my life. My parents had struggled with addiction, which created many unnecessary challenges in their lives. In my life, I turned to alcohol to help me deal with my problems and to make the days go by when the struggle of losing my dad happened during my first year of high school. When I started my recovery, I knew I needed to turn my life around to achieve my goals. I went and got help without anyone knowing. I knew that I needed to do this process independently to succeed. Since I have recovered from alcohol and even vaping, my life has gotten back on track. I would never want to go back because I would lose all of the following: being able to take 5 classes, being president of a volleyball club on campus, and working a job to help pay bills. Recovery meant that I got my life together. I was able to become who I wanted to be for years!

My favorite Disney character when I was a child was Mickey Mouse. Even when I babysit, I still sit there enjoying the show as much as I did as a child. Mickey mouse proved that there was always a solution to a problem. He never accomplished the challenge at hand alone either. When thinking about my own journey in life, I took every challenge alone until a couple of years ago. A couple of years ago, I realized that sometimes asking for help can get you farther in life than being stuck in one spot. In the show, Mickey Mouse asks his friends to help him when needed. He also has a digital computer named " Toodles" that gives him tools to help out. When I am stuck on something in life this digital show comes to life. I ask friends, teachers, or family when I am stuck on something. If I have to accomplish something alone, then I use my own "toolbox". My toolbox contains mental health meditation apps, study apps, and even motivational phrases to get me through a challenge. With every challenge, there is a change in the toolbox exactly like in the show. My toolbox may contain more adult-like ideas but it still has the same concept. It is like anything in the world can be conqured if handled correctly. Indepedently or with the help of someone else, I know that I will achieve the goals that I have set for myself. From a young age, I took lessons from the world around me and I still use those lessons today as I continue to grow into the person that I want to be. I also have to admit, watching Mickey Mouse Club House was always fun and exciting to. It was BOLD to say the least.

My favorite song comes from an experience with my dad. " Fight Song" by Rachel Platten got me through my worst and best moments. As stated in my profile, my father passed when I was a freshman in high school and it was a huge challenge to overcome. I started listening to this song on repeat and took the lyrics to heart. Especially the lyrice, " But I can make an explosion". My dad always told me that I will be able to make my dreams come true due to my charactersitics. This lyric made me believe that statement even more. I knew that in the future I would make a positive impact on children's lives in the education program. As the years have passed, I have made the connection even stronger. For example, I recently became president of a volleyball club on my campus. Volleyball was always a passsion of mine and I wanted to make an impact in others peoples lives since volleyball was my outlet. By running this club I have taken this song into spirit. Fighting through all the hurdles and challenges on may face while running a club while holding down five classes and a job. I believe that no matter what I have gone through or will continue to go through nothing will bring me down. I took back my life from the moment I heard this song from the harships that I have faced and I will continue to do so along my journey. Words can not describe in such short length how much one song has impacted my life in multiple different aspects. These aspects included volleyball, education, and mental health.

I plan to inspire youth in my career by providing an atmosphere where they feel confident and understand. Trust between the teacher and student can make the learning environment a more positive experience. I plan to teach preschool to 3rd grade which means opportunity means everything. Creative exploration will be a huge integration into my future student's learning process. My lessons will enable students to explore their interests in an educational setting. Praising students, reducing technology, and creating an open/diverse classroom are just some of the ideas that I plan to implement. Throughout my career, I am planning to do future research and speak with other teachers to gain more knowledge on this subject. Every student is different which means that I must know multiple different approaches. For example, some students are inspired by motivation while others need a reward. My main goal is to continue to learn and implement those lessons in the classroom.

In 5th grade, I had the opportunity to pick a school "job". This school job was tutoring. During one of my classes that I was a head in, I would tutor a student from preschool through kindergarten. My role was to provide help with reading and math-based material to a student who needed individualized help. Since the first day of tutoring, I knew that my passion was for early childhood education. From that day I tried to become involved in any teaching-based experience possible. In school, I would be one the first ones to try and help out another student. Even when it comes to babysitting, I have used my experience. For example, when I babysit family members I tend to help them with their schoolwork. My one cousin is diagnosed with autism and I have used different learning styles from my college classes and implemented them in every aspect of helping him. The experience is what ignites my passion. The more that I experience helping these young children begin their educational journey, the more passionate I become. I feel that children deserve the best learning experience that can be delivered to them. Not every community has the same opportunities with technology, access, or even money but that should not fully determine the outcome of a child's education. I want to provide these students with a positive learning experience. Their learning experience should be better than mine was when I was a student in preschool to 3rd grade. Everything in the world is challenging and always changing. I want to be that role model that can help these students overcome anything and everything that is thrown at them. Even if it is just a break from being in a tough living situation and school is their way out. This makes me passionate and more motivated than ever to achieve my degree because I know the difference that I will be able to make. Seeing that difference also makes a huge difference in perspective. Seeing how I have already impacted children's lives positively makes me want to grow and learn to be a better educator in the future. Being passionate to me means a lot of different ideas. From wanting better futures for students to the happiness that I receive through my own experiences. I am sure that as I continue my own journey to achieving a bachelor's degree in early childhood education I will have plenty more opportunities to light my passion even more.