ABE 1

Autobiographical Essay
Hailey Hurd
Professor Kristin Beck
EDUC 201 Foundations of Education
Online: Fall 2010

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Autobiographical Essay
School has always been one of my most favorite and positive experiences. I have always
looked back on my school years as something that I thoroughly enjoyed and would happily do all
over again! I was one of those students who finished all the homework that I could in class, not
because I didnt want to do it at home, but because I was anxious and excited to do it. When I did
have homework that must be done at home, I always tackled it right away and completed it as
soon as I could. I hope that with all my various experiences in life, my goals and my absolute
love for learning, I will be able to influence children and teach them to love learning and school
as much as I do.
Educational Background
I went to quite a few elementary schools as a child. I attended kindergarten in Springdale,
Idaho, then we moved to Utah for a while where I attended Redwood Elementary for first and
second grade. After that, we moved to California where I attended Center Street School during
third grade, then back to Burley, Idaho where I completed fourth and part of fifth grade at
Mountain View Elementary. For the duration of fifth grade through half of seventh grade we
moved back to Utah where I attended James E. Moss Elementary and Eisenhower Junior High
School. Finally, we settled in Idaho where I finished up at Burley Junior and Senior High
Schools and received my high school diploma. I took a break from education for a while to have
a family. During that break I took an independent study course through the Professional Career
Development Institute and received a diploma in accounting. Recently, I began pursuing my
education again but was still unsure about what I wanted to do. I took the Certified Nursing
Assistant class offered at the C.S.I. and after completing that, I decided that I wanted to be a
teacher so I am currently a freshman at the College of Southern Idaho majoring in elementary
education.

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I believe that my educational experiences will aid me in becoming a teacher because I

have had so many different experiences with great schools and teachers. Because of the
numerous times we have moved, I was able to experience many different teaching styles and
curriculums. I have also learned many ways of getting kids to understand and think in different
ways. The experience I have will aid me in using all the styles I have learned to contribute to my
very own unique teaching techniques.
Work History
My work experience started in Utah at the age of 10 when I got a baby-sitting job. There
were two families that lived in our apartment building, one of which was my cousin and her
children. The kids were various ages so I had to do everything from changing cloth diapers to
bathing them, feeding them dinner, and putting them to bed. Later, when we moved back to
Idaho, my father worked for a company called Ecowater. One of his tasks was to call people and
ask them a few questions about their water. My dad asked me to help him out by calling some of
them for him; it was not an easy job! After I graduated from high school, I got a job as a clerk at
The Package House where I packaged and shipped mail for people. I also helped with counting
the till, some billing, and inventory. I took a break to get married after which I worked at Great
American Video as a clerk and then an assistant manager. My duties in this position included:
keeping the store clean, entering new inventory into the system, managing employees, counting
tills and depositing daily earnings. After holding this position, I took quite a long break to raise
my family. Due to the economy, my husband was laid off of his job, so I took a job at Betaseed
where I treated, packaged, and did inventory on beet seeds. Most recently, I worked at MiniCassia Care Center as a nursing assistant where I assisted people in their activities of daily
living.
Being a babysitter taught me from an early age how to take care of and teach small
children. As a nursing assistant, I learned how to take care of and teach the elderly and/or

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disabled. I learned that all people learn in different ways and learn at their own pace. Age cannot
tell you what a person should or should not know or what they can and cannot do. All of my
other jobs taught me how to deal with all kinds of different people. I learned that no two people
are the same and even though they may have the same question or problem for you, the way you
solve it may be entirely different depending on the person. These experiences will help me to
adjust my teaching style to every student depending on how they can be taught and teach them to
develop their own way of learning.
Service and/or Extracurricular Activities
In sixth grade, I started playing the violin in the orchestra. I continued to be a member of
the orchestra until high school. As a junior in high school, I decided to try out for the Bel Cantos,
the best choir the Burley High School has to offer. I was in Bel Cantos for both my junior and
senior year. I also participated in the Leo Club and the Physics Club during my high school
years. I have not done much community service throughout my life, however, as a member of the
Bel Cantos, I was able to sing for different groups of people with the choir. I also had the
opportunity to watch my daughter dance for the elderly at various nursing homes while she was
learning ballet and tap dancing at 5678 Dance. It was wonderful to see the peoples faces when
they watched the kids dance for them. I have volunteered to help out with a variety of things in
my childrens classes at school as well.
These experiences have taught me how to work as a team. If everybody does not put in
their fair share of work, the whole team suffers. If even one member of our orchestra or choir did
not put forth the effort to practice, it affected the way the whole choir and orchestra sounded. I
have also learned the importance and significance of helping others even if it is not required. Not
only does it make their lives better, but it also has a great impact on your own life. This alone
makes service so overwhelmingly worth it. I hope to be able to teach my students how important
it is to work as a group as well as individually. I would also like to instill in them a love for
community service.

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Reasons for Choosing Education as a Career

I first considered becoming a teacher when I was a young child. I have always loved
school. I would go to school and then come home and play school. I played school all summer
long. I would play with anyone who was willing to play with me and sometimes I played alone. I
always wanted to be the teacher when we played but I would sometimes be the student so that
my friends and cousins wouldnt get bored and stop playing school with me. I have considered
other careers also, such as accounting, nursing, and becoming a doctor. I have also thought I
would really enjoy a career as a crime scene investigator and forensic pathologist. Those may be
careers I pursue later on as well as become a teacher. For now I am focusing on education
because it has been a love of mine since I was very small.
I decided to become a teacher because of how much I have always loved learning. I love
everything about school. I love the curriculum that schools have and have always been so excited
to teach the curriculum in the elementary schools. I enjoy helping my children with their
homework because it is the kind of stuff I have always dreamed of teaching. The rewards I hope
to gain from becoming a teacher are great. I want to be able to teach the children to love learning
and school just as much as I do. I also want to experience the joy of learning things myself from
the children. I also cannot wait to see the looks on the childrens faces when they finally
understand something that they have had difficulty learning.
Professional Goals
My long-term goal is to become the kind of teacher that people remember forever as
being a teacher that inspired them to love education. In order to achieve this goal, I would like to
learn ways of teaching the students using each ones unique form of learning. I would like to
learn to present the curriculum in a way that will be entertaining to the children so that it will
have a lasting impression on them.

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Some of my short-term goals are to get a degree in elementary education and secondary
education with an endorsement in mathematics. I would like to complete the elementary
education program first, and then I would like to teach for a while before continuing on to the
secondary education program. Another one of my goals is to learn sign language and Braille so
that I will be able to help all of the children in my classes. I plan on taking courses for these
while working on my elementary education degree.
I believe that I have had some experiences that will greatly contribute to my career as an
educator. I would like to be able to teach students of all ages and skill levels. I hope that I will be
a great teacher because of the things I have learned from all of my life experiences. I cannot wait
to achieve my goal of getting a degree in elementary education so that I can start to influence
childrens lives and teach them the value and joy of a wonderful education!