What am I?

What am I?

In my personal life I am a daughter, a granddaughter, a little sister, a friend, a touchy-feely person, and a confidant. I am a ‘diagnosee’ of a mental illness.

In my religious life I am an explorer, a researcher, a reader, a student, and a teacher.

In my academic life I am a broke college student, class taker, an over achiever, a studier, a learner, and someone who asks a lot of questions (inquisitive).

In my career life I am an educator, a friend, a role model, an employee, a player of made up games, a comforter, a care-giver, and an activist of finding a proper title for the occupation I’m in (we are educators or child care professionals, not a babysitter).

The roles that are most prominent right now are a reader, a student, a researcher, and a care-giver. All of these are direct results of my childhood and the way I was raised.

As a child I was exposed to lots of stories while cuddled up with a loved one, I went to story time, I participate in every summer reading program at the library, my mom showed great examples of the importance of reading (“Unless you or someone else in the house is bleeding, vomiting, or in danger, wait until I finish this chapter!”), and I volunteered for around five years at the library I grew up at. That library is my second home. My mom also works in the Children’s section.

On my paternal side of the family I come from a line of well educated people (my grand-father and great uncle are famous college professors, my grandmother was an elementary teacher for decades, and my father has a Master’s degree, and all his brothers have at least an Bachelor’s degree). My mom was the first one in her family to go to college at all, let alone get a bachelor’s degree, and everyone in her family is very proud of her for it. Education was always a given for my family, and the years that public school wasn’t working for me, my mom homeschooled me. Also they we supportive of me when I decided to go to a Technical College, rather than a ‘Top Ten’ famous university like my siblings did/are.

When I was homeschooled in my high school years, I was an ‘unschooler’. When means I was employed to ask as many questions I could think of and search for every possible answer I could find. It was extremely rewording being able to follow my interests and learn about what truly inspired me.
Until I was in my early grade school years, my mom was a leader of a local La-Leche League group and one of the best knowledgeable people in the state when it came to breast-feeding. They practiced ‘attachment parenting’, and I was breastfed until I was three and a half (don’t judge), slept with my parents until I was comfortable to sleep in my own, and surrounded by lots of love, hugs, kisses, and encouraging words. This has made a huge difference on my philosophies on child care and care-giving.