My Road to Becoming an Education Major

“Education is much more than a matter of imparting the knowledge and skills by which narrow goals are achieved. It is also about opening the child’s eyes to the needs and rights of others.” - Dalai Lama

Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be in a career that would service others. Helping others has always been something I genuinely enjoy doing, and makes me happy. I knew that teaching was an option, and one I considered a lot, but as I started my first year, I realized how many other career options there were. I took classes in sociology and loved it, then some in psychology, and even considered nursing. I felt so confused and stressed because I wanted to be part of all those fields, but I knew that would not be possible. After reflecting on my purpose and the change that I want to make, I committed to majoring in education.

One of the requirements to major in education is to do field study hours in an educational setting. So to fulfill this requirement, I enrolled in education 101, which focuses on teaching bilingual students, and volunteering at a dual immersion school. I ended up being placed in a third grade classroom, and was in charge of working with a group of students who were falling behind on their math and writing skills. It was a little daunting at first, because I realized how important my role was in catching them up to the level of their peers. As I spent more time in the classroom, the students started to warm up to me, and no longer were afraid to participate or ask for help. 

Through the middle of my experience, a new student from Guatemala was placed in the classroom. Since she spoke Spanish, she was able to succeed in the portions of class that were in Spanish, but struggled in the English portions, which were the majority. The teacher asked me to work with her, and I was more than excited too because I saw my kindergarten self reflect in her. We started with the alphabet and slowly worked our way up with writing and comprehension skills. Seeing her improvement made me so proud and happy, because all her hard work was paying off. This experience was the defining moment that made me realize teaching was what I wanted to do. Unfortunately as the quarter ended, so did my time at the classroom. 

Being an education major has helped me understand how to best help others, as well as the many systems in place that affect students. I know that there is so much work to be done, but I can say that the courses at UCI have truly prepared me to overcome what comes my way, and be the best advocate for my students.