So there has already been plenty of history on the road to becoming a teacher... I'll give the reader's digest version :-)
well, I suppose we'll start with fall of junior year of college... my world fell apart. I realized about the time the love of my life broke up with me, that I was entirely to stressed with 17 hours of upper level science classes, and I was not going to make it to optometry school (my dream since 6th grade). So I went home for Christmas and broke the news to my parents... Mom was not too excited, but Dad took it well (and I think Elizabeth excused herself from the dinner table to find a happier place). At this point the news was that I would not be applying to optometry school, I had no clue what I was going to do with my life, but I would still graduate on time with my degree in Chemistry. That January, I went on my first (of 3) mission trip to the Bahamas with Wesley Foundation and God showed me I was not a failure, and gave me a renewed hope for my future!!
~~ Let's rewind a few years... I graduated high school saying I wanted to be an optometrist, but I would graduate with a science degree and do anything but teach... ha! ~~
so that January after the trip, I began to look into the teaching possibilities as I was feeling a tug towards the profession I resisted so much. At Mercer (where I was completing my undergraduate degree) I would need 4 semesters of practicum to graduate with a science education degree and certification... I only had 2.5 semesters left. I continued that semester and started looking into the requirements of teaching. The fall of my senior year, I started shadowing a science teacher at a local private school, and confirmed this was the profession for me! In the spring I began to buckle down with plans. I applied to Georgia College and State University's (GCSU) Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program which was scheduled to start over the summer. I was lead to the master's program because the certification process in Georgia would require some classes, these same classes plus a few more would land me with a master's. The choice seemed simple.
The MAT program is offered in one year as a full time student or in two years as a part time student with a full time job. I began the application process last spring under the impression that the school systems were desperate for science teachers. Apparently it's not in the budget to hire new teachers, but I am now in the one year program and planning on starting my teaching career next fall.
I was accepted into GCSU and started the MAT classes this summer with "Learning and the Learner" and "Curriculum and Methods". I finished up the summer with a few weeks at camp (I'll detail later) and a trip home before moving back to Macon to continue classes for the fall!
I think this brings you up to date for the most part, and we'll continue this journey together :-)
