Current mess, future educator
The past
I constantly ponder, what has made me the person I am today? What interactions are most meaningful when it comes to the creation of myself? Did the awkward wave I gave someone an hour ago shape who I am? Or did coming to NC State, a completely new environment and a whole new world for me, change my life above everything else? Perhaps it was the time in first grade where I forgot the English word for “napkin” that created my entire life perspective? I am always led to the same conclusion that perhaps, all of my life experiences as a combination have muddled together to make a big pile of Ranine.
Pictures of some important moments in my life
One of my favorite things growing up: Dora
Discovering my literacy
As a highschool student, I tutored elementary school kids and did various volunteer activities with them. When I was a tutor, I worked with three girls in third grade with english. We worked in the elementary school’s library which was quite cozy, but too small for me. The girls were shy at first and asked for help bashfully when they needed it. As the tutoring session continued, they asked me questions about myself and the more I shared about myself, the more they opened up about themselves. Once they felt well acquainted with me, they spoke more and more and I had to start reminding them of their assignment. I found it particularly interesting in the way children perceive things and the methods in which they communicate with each other compared with adults. I became “literate” in my passion for guiding children. Now I am an advocate for the improvement of primary education and an avid learner of children and the education system. I would like to be a guide for students of any background and someone who can stimulate their growth.
the present
I spend a lot of time reflecting upon the creation of today’s Ranine. She is a freshman in college planning to major in Elementary Education and the first in her family to attend a Predominantly White Institution. She loves spending time with her friends, but when that feels like too much, she finds refuge in spending time with young children or watching them try food on YouTube. She procrastinates on her assignments, because for some reason she works well under pressure. Despite this, she prefers to be in a relaxed state of mind. She is an intelligent individual who looks forward to the future, but perhaps spends too much time worrying about what it may bring since she craves stability and happiness. She wants to move away from the past, but sometimes she focuses on the events that have made up parts of her personality she does not find favorable because it brings an endless train of negative thoughts. She is doing her best. In this moment, she is defined by neither her past or future.
reflecting on the present
It is for all these reasons that future Ranine craves a simple laid back lifestyle. She would like to do what she loves and feels passionate about. It is only by defining who the present Ranine is, and what she prefers, that future Ranine is able to make sense of her literacy. The first step to future Ranine: the educator, is understanding present Ranine. She has now checked understanding off the list.
Present Ranine finds comfort in cats.
what the past and present have taught me for the future
I grew up in a very diverse environment—diverse in thought, race, ethnicity, first languages, etc. In elementary school, I was not aware that this diversity meant anything in the school system. People just looked different and it had no effect on how they learn. In middle school, I was exposed to a different idea. Despite everyone having grown up in the same school system, it was clear that advantages were reserved only for certain students. There was only one group of advanced classes in middle school. I managed to test into it, but was only one in a small handful of minorities. To be a minority was considered to be disadvantageous in the school system. I have become very mindful of differences because of my experiences, it made me become an individual that generates lots of empathy and sympathy.
Because of my past experiences, I think I will be able to relate to my students or at least empathize with them when it comes to their experiences as an educator. When I am a professional educator, I would like to ensure that all students receive the same chances and opportunities, regardless of their background. I was dealing with a lot of stress in high school, which resulted in me being very high strung. Working with children was very refreshing and made me feel relaxed. It also helped me realize my love for children. I have been able to envision my future lifestyle for myself because I realized my passion. I would like to be living life as a content individual. I want to eventually be able to settle down but also incorporate a healthy amount of spontaneity into my life. Most of all, I have promised myself to do what it takes to go into my career as a teacher and I want to follow through with that promise.
what are the moves?
I recognize that there are many things I seek for my future. From a young age, I have been taught that if there is something that I want out of life that not only must I work hard for it, but I must be persistent in my pursuit of attaining it. I have developed a work ethic today to help me for a better future tomorrow. In order to become a guide for children, I have to first guide myself onto the path of hard work and determination. My aspirations are high but I will be persistent in order to achieve my goals. In order to improve my quality of life, I want to improve the quality of life for students and marginalized communities and cultures.
The two most important things I have to learn is how to be patient and how to be well-grounded. As an educator, I will face many problems with a variety of circumstances, and in order to handle them well equipped, I need these skills. I can start to learn how to be well-grounded by assessing
authors note
In order to keep the reader engaged and interested, I tried not to give this project a strict structure and I played around with the composition of writing and multimodal features. I added headers and sub-headers so the project would be easy to follow. In order to make sure the text was not overwhelming, I split text boxes into paragraphs and grouped certain pieces of my original essay together and sectioned them. I wanted this page to reflect my life, which I believe it does because it is a mess but intelligent at the same time.