Dora Waite
When I began my educational career after high school, I did so at my parents' insistence, because they expected it of me. Reflecting back on that time in my life, I realize how wise my non-college educated parents were to push me. Their foresight instilled in me the importance of pursuing the highest level of education.
I was raised in a small rural community, sixty miles south of Buffalo, New York. Hard work and perseverance in high school led me to begin my college education as a student at Fredonia State University, Fredonia, New York. After one year, I transferred to Edinboro State University in Pennsylvania where I majored in music. I soon discovered my passion did not lie in this field, but was found while working with elementary children during an after school program and a summer craft camp.
In June of 1981, I married my high school sweetheart. We moved to San Antonio, Texas and began our career in the United States Air Force. I became an elementary education major with a concentration in music at the University of Texas at San Antonio. During my required classroom observations, I realized I had found my calling. In 1985 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and was expecting my first child. My husband and I decided it was more important for me to stay home with our children than to hold a job outside the home. In 1991 we welcomed our third and last child into the family.
As my children grew, I become an active volunteer in the community and their schools. I coordinated field trips, acted as a chaperone, volunteered in the classroom, became a Boy Scout den mom and a Girl Scout troop leader. When the Air Force sent my husband away from us for extended period of times, I became a single parent who kept the routine and stability going at home for our family. With every move we made, I did my best to ensure that our children understood that a home was not a place, a house, or a school, but who we were as a family when we were all together. In 1999 our Air Force experience ended with our last assignment in Warner Robins, Georgia. My husband suffered from several service related physical problems and retired in 2003 after twenty-two years of active duty. Even with limited income potential, as a family we made the decision to remain in Warner Robins to allow each of our children to graduate from the same high school.
In 2001, my youngest child was ten years old when we decided the time was right for me to take a full-time job as a classroom teacher. My first year was in a class of thirty fifth grade students. As an inexperienced teacher, my goal that year was survival. I not only survived, but recognized that my years as a mom and a volunteer had been a sort of training ground for my profession. For the next three years I knew beyond a doubt that the classroom was where I belonged, but I began to recognize that there was more to teaching than I had anticipated. I came to understand that to become a strong effective teacher, I would need to enrich my knowledge and experience through higher education. After extensive research, in February of 2006 I chose to enroll with Walden Universitys online Master of Science in Education program. I understood that as an educator I had to broaden and strengthen my knowledge of my chosen profession as an elementary educator. With this in mind, I chose curriculum, instruction and assessment as my degree program. My goal at that time was to focus on a broad spectrum of learning, as this broad knowledge base would be of greater benefit to me and my students than the narrower field of a specific subject area.
Walden University has assisted me in becoming a highly effective teacher. The professors and course work have challenged me with thought provoking assignments which have challenged me to think of educational techniques in new and exciting ways. Through the courses in my degree program I developed a richer, deeper appreciation for my profession while gaining insights that helped build my confidence as an educator.
Being a mom, active community volunteer, working a full-time job, and also working as a full-time student while earning the Masters of Science degree was not an easy task. Not only was I required to make sacrifices, I had to ask my family to endure sacrifices as well. Two weeks prior to beginning my program, my mother suffered a severe, hemorrhaging stroke. I was torn between family obligations and career goals. My family could not have been more supportive.
My husband pointed out that eighteen months were going to pass whether or not I began the master's program and that if my mother could, she would tell me to persevere in my goals. He and my children assured me they would support me throughout the program and insisted I begin. For the first three months of classes, I took a three hour drive to the north side of Atlanta every weekend to offer support for my father while my mother began her long road to recovery. There were days I took off from work, to make the drive during the week to take Mom to her therapy sessions or doctor appointments because my dad could not take her, having taken too many days off work himself. It was a difficult beginning and a stressful way to begin reaching my professional goals, but with the help and support of my family, I fulfilled this promise to myself while also supporting my mother and father. It was an uncertain time for all of us and proved that my family is built on a strong foundation of love and commitment to each other.
My current goal as a professional is to have a positive influence toward research based change within my school system. The school district where I am employed is one of the largest growing in the state of Georgia. Additional schools are built every year to support the population increase. As a class room teacher, I see the potential for change within our curriculum that could enhance and strengthen student achievement. I know that our district places emphasis on highly trained professionals, yet at the same time, classroom teachers rarely feel that their voice is heard. I want to be a voice that is heard. I want to earn an educational doctorate to gain credence to my voice, so the students and teachers will benefit from my achievement. Through this advanced degree I want to understand research at a deeper level to facilitate the change I see our district so desperately needs.
As a mom, an online education is the only choice for me. It provides me with the flexibility an on-campus program would never provide. When we made the choice to remain in Georgia, we left most of our family in New York. Each summer we return for three to four weeks, so our families build a relationship with our children. This is a tradition that we have maintained for twenty-seven years, excluding three years when our Air Force assignment was Tokyo, Japan. My children would be heartbroken if we could not return for our yearly visit, which would be the outcome if I did not have the choice of an online program.
I have recently discovered I need surgery at the end of May to have a growth removed from my intestine. From previous experience with Walden University, I know I will have the opportunity to continue with my courses during my three week recovery period. The lap top will be in my hospital room and will move next to my bed when I return home. This option is only possible via an online program. An online program alleviates much of the stress an advanced degree could cause because it permits me to be flexible in meeting the many commitments in my life. It allows me to attend my childrens' band concerts, marching competitions, and troop meetings. I have the flexibility to go prom dress shopping, help with homework, and prepare meals. The online format allows me to be a full-time student, a community volunteer, a full-time teacher, a wife, a daughter, and a mother. It makes it possible for me to balance my professional life and goals with a busy personal life. It is with great pride and accomplishment that I have continued to embrace my parents vision for me in earning a college degree and have surpassed their goals while reaching mine.