Running Head: EDUCATION JOURNEY

A Journey through Education

Carrie Cline
Ivy Tech Community College
Deborah Cade
January 24, 2015

EDUCATION JOURNEY

Standard, Description and Rationale

Standard One: Learner Development:
The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of
learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social,
emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and
challenging learning experiences.
Artifact: Educational Autobiography
Date: January 24, 2015
Class: EDU 101
Description:
Education is a unique experience for everyone. This is a small glimpse at mine. I started
the journey strong in elementary with a fire for absorbing knowledge. It stayed with me into
middle school, but the fire was not as hot. High school is where the flame was completely
smothered. Fear overcame me and I lost sight of my future.
Rationale:
I am able to connect this assignment to Standard one because it displays my
understanding of how my influences will affect others. I can also connect it to how important
patterns are to learning.

EDUCATION JOURNEY

A Journey through Education

I was once obsessed with the idea of being an astronaut. I decided early on I wanted to go
to Purdue. It was where all the astronauts went according to my aunt. I watched The Right
Stuff over and over until I knew it by heart. I adored Star Wars and Carl Sagan. I still do. Yet,
when the Challenger accident happened, I developed a fear of space flight. My fear held me back
and I gave up on that goal. I still loved space and science but I forfeited the game early before
even trying. This is also how my educational journey played out. I started off enthusiastically,
then slowly my interest faded. My journey was broken up into three major events, Elementary
School, Middle School, and High School.
Elementary
My voyage began at an elementary school called Steven Decatur. My teacher was kind
and enthusiastic. I remember doing fun crafts and learning The Pledge of Allegiance. The part I
recall most is my love for the library. The rows of books and books and books was intoxicating
for a young, impressionable reader. The first book I remember becoming obsessed with is The
Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter. I would check it out each week in the hopes that when
I returned it; I could check it right back out. This love for reading grew all through elementary.
My fifth grade teacher had us read The Hobbit. I can still picture the paper mache Gollum head
we created in class. Elementary was a time full of learning and joy. At the end of it I was very
eager for the next level.
Middle School
Middle school is where my journey began to focus on my interest in language arts. Math
was complicated and it took real work. English made sense and felt like it came naturally. The
first research paper I did was on Lizzie Borden. This was where I first began to establish my

EDUCATION JOURNEY

information literacy skills. This project on Lizzie Borden is what sparked my interest in
independent learning. The structure of the class room was always pleasant enough for me until
this. I immediately began the hobby of researching various subjects. I immersed myself into
history, and language arts, but I slacked in math and avidly avoided it. My momentum was
slowing down due to my fear of advanced math. Middle school was an educational highlight that
prepared me for the next leg of the journey.
High School
My educational journey ended when my senior year did. I had great teachers who
inspired me to do better. I also had other teachers that inspired me to quit. High school was a
roller coaster of a ride. I continued my independent learning and sadly put that before my school
work. I avoided assignments and ignored the warning of my limited future. I struggled my way
through my math classes and checked out a few time. In the end, I ended my journey where it
began. The night of graduation we had to pick our diplomas up at the schools library. It was one
of the greatest feeling to actually have the thing. I never thought it would happen because of my
own personal doubt and the doubt of the people around me. After that night my educational
journey paused for thirteen years.
Conclusion
My educational journey was full of mistakes and triumphs. All through elementary,
middle and high school my love for learning and reading grew more and more. My journey has
begun anew as I venture through college. My journey now is leading me to inspire young minds
to see the value of a good education. The most important thing I have learned from my journey is
that the only limits you have in learning are the ones you put on yourself. You have to work hard
to gain the knowledge lessons hold in life and in school.