[This was a required statement for one of my classes:
(My super-senti) Personal Philosophy: Leap and the net shall appear.
To be honest, I don’t really believe I chose special education as a career. It chose me. I certainly didn’t fall into it. I definitely leaped. My personal philosophy has always been, “leap and the net shall appear.” It is a philosophy that I always believed true, but often found it very difficult to act on. This philosophy had not rung so loud and true as it did since I first entered the Severe Disabilities Teacher Preparatory program and throughout my entire experience at Hunter College. Applying for the program was a huge leap for me. At the time it felt like a complete change of career direction. I had been working in Marketing for a health non-profit, writing creatively and volunteering for arts, youth and church related activities. I was terrified, but I knew I was at a point in my life when I needed to take that leap – net or no net. Sure enough, the net did appear and remained in protective embrace for the past few years as a graduate student. I found the net available to me in the guise of extremely supportive faculty advisors, professors, cooperating teachers, students, and other school staff at my student teaching stations, classmates and other colleagues I met along the way. I also realized the net had already been there all along in the form of my family and friends.
My training at Hunter College has been an incredible life-changing learning experience. At some point during this experience, this career has become a calling that I had known my entire life. It suddenly clicked – special education is where I belong, this is what I am meant to do in life. My past experiences working for under-privileged populations and working in the creative arts all make sense to me. Through my student teaching experiences, I enjoyed the challenge of adapting curriculum to the specific needs of each student I had the honor of working with. I have been able to utilize my past knowledge and combined with the training I have received at Hunter, I am so excited to provide the support and facilitate the learning of my future students. Despite the stresses of academics, this net has molded me into something I will provide for my own future students. I want to provide the net for my students, allowing them to take scary risks and leaps that will benefit them for their own self-determination and independence.
