Jessica Mittermann

EPS 512
7/17/2014
Identity Reflection

There are many different aspects of life that truly define who a person is. Everything from where
you were born who your parents are your race and ethnicity, family traditions, expectations, morals and
values shape your views and perspectives on issues as an adult. I have found that many of my
experiences as a child have influenced me to not only become the person that I am today, but also
encouraged me to make my career in the field of education.
I was born in Berwyn, Illinois to my parents Joseph and Sheri Lambert. My father was a factory
worker at Zenith, while my mother sold cars at a dealership. They had both come from low-middle class,
blue collar families. I was their first child, and I was also lucky enough to be born on my fathers 25
th

birthday. He and I have always had a very special relationship, and I secretly wondered if our shared
birthday is the reason for it. I was not an only child for long; my brother was born 18 months after
myself. Following was my younger sister, 18 months after him, and finally, my youngest sister was born
5 years after that. We eventually moved into the suburb of Elmhurst, which is a predominantly white,
middle class community. I had a wonderful childhood; one full of playing outside in the summer on our
dead-end street with the other neighborhood children. We fit in well with our Scottish and Polish
heritage: most of Elmhurst is of Irish decent. We were all baptized Catholic, but were not considered a
practicing Catholic family. Yes, we fit right in.
Being born into a large family has shaped my personality and who I am more than anything
else. Being the eldest, I was always taught to be the responsible child: and it was always expected of me.
My parents were far stricter with me than they were with any of my other siblings. I was expected to
constantly watch over my younger siblings, both in school and out of school. In many ways, I felt like a
second mother to my youngest sibling because I constantly took care of her. She and I are eight years
apart and the age gap has made our relationship different from that of my other siblings. She sees me as
the sibling she can rely on; one who will keep her secrets and give her advice without judgment. Being
that person for her has made my life more enjoyable and worthwhile. It is partially through my
experience as the eldest sister in my family that my teaching ambitions came to light. I was always the
sibling that would help the younger ones with their homework; whether by proof reading papers or
figuring out tricky math problems. Helping them succeed made me feel as though I had succeeded as
well.
For the majority of my life, my family has dominated most of my traditions and values. We are
an extremely close, tight knit family. On a large scale, several family traditions that I know have shaped
me into the person I am today include our yearly tradition of decorating our Christmas tree. We are all
required to be present every holiday season so that we can decorate our Christmas tree together with
ornaments that we have created ourselves throughout the years. Craftiness has been a huge part of my
life, and I think it stems from our yearly making of Christmas ornaments. We also have a tradition of
spending each and every birthday together. Birthdays are extremely important to us, and they are never
complete without the traditional home-made birthday cake, cards, and gifts. On a smaller scale, one of
our daily values as a family was to have dinner together every night around our dinner table. We would
talk about our day, describe our positives and negatives, as well as joke, laugh, and occasionally argue.
Having that time together enabled us to have extremely close relationships. When I was old enough to
date and eventually marry, it was incredibly important to me that my family loved and respected my
husband, Eric. If they did not approve of him, I did not know if I could marry him. My siblings and
parents were all very welcoming towards my husband, and he feels the same closeness with my siblings
that I do. They see him as one of their own so to speak, and it makes our life together more
meaningful because I can share my family with him.
Academics are incredibly important to me. The value of a good education was something that
my parents made certain we knew we were getting. I knew that a good education was the best way for
me to make a good future for myself. I have a great desire to constantly grow and expand my abilities,
whether that is through academia or extra-curricular activities. It was drummed into me since
kindergarten that I would be the first in our family to attend college. The pressure that some students
feel about performing well is what I experienced on an every day basis. Only the best grades were
acceptable to my parents: nothing less than my absolute best would do. Perfection was essential.
Scholarships and grants were the only way I would be able to go to college. They could not afford to pay
for me to attend college like many of my friends parents could.
Not only were exceptional grades expected, but I was also encouraged to participate in a great
deal of extra-curricular activities. My mother believed they would make me more marketable for
college. I was forced to play the saxophone in the school band for nine years when I absolutely loathed
the instrument. I was also encouraged to participate in ballet classes, which I came to love. Ballet
essentially became my life. While my parents stressed the importance of academics in the classroom,
they also explained the significance of outside activities that I should involve myself in. Ballet became
my staple. I loved the structure, the movements, the music, everything. I have never felt as alive as I did
when I did ballet five nights a week after school, and on Saturdays. I appreciate my parents and their
stubbornness in terms of participating in these activities. I know that my father and mother both worked
two jobs so that my sisters and I could afford to go. I was given the opportunity while in classes, to teach
the younger students the basics of ballet. I adored the thought of teaching younger students the
discipline and structure that was my love of the art. It was also here that I discovered my love of
teaching.
I believe that these experiences have not only encouraged me, but prepared me for my life as a
teacher. I knew throughout college that teaching was the profession that I wanted to spend the rest of
my life perfecting. My undergrad experience was a good one, but not a through on. I felt incredibly
unprepared to tackle the difficulty of managing a classroom of middle school aged students. That is part
of the reason I believe the residency program is such an amazing opportunity. I want to be able to
combine my individual strengths as a person, with the skills and techniques that I know the residency
will teach me.