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Autobiography
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  I
first decided I wanted to be a teacher when I was in the first
grade. I was a shy child, but with a lot to share at the same
time. I had a wonderfully nurturing first grade teacher, Mrs.
Berg. She seemed to understand me. She wouldn’t push me
too hard, but was able to prompt me just enough for me to feel
safe in actively participating in class. I wanted to be just
like her.
Throughout my childhood I grew increasingly fond of the role teachers play in society. I held
my own teachers in high regard. Their
job was so important, I've always thought. I did come across
those people I felt were not good teachers, and wondered why
they entered the profession when they didn’t seem to necessarily
like children (from my young perspective). I decided I wanted to be one of the good ones, one
who would make a difference, and offer their students that sense of love and caring. I have always loved making people feel comfortable and good about themselves, and it is perhaps the self-gratification I felt I would
acquire within the profession that attracted me most to teaching.
A number
of individuals had an impact on my desire to earn my teaching
degree. First, of course, was my first grade teacher I've already mentioned, whom I
adored and wanted to emulate. The desire to become a teacher
never left me after the first grade. In addition, I can credit every one of my teachers that invoked a feeling of respect and desire to learn. Each teacher I admired caused me to want to emulate them one day. Every year I had a "favorite" teacher or two. My greatest gratitude is toward my K-8 teachers at St. James. I didn't realize then that private school teachers actually earn less than public school teachers. Sometimes I reflect on the fact that those teachers were obviously doing their work for the love of it, and perhaps in their own way, as a service to God. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful.
I was enrolled
for college at UW-Eau Claire my senior year of high school,
with the intention of entering the School of Education. In January
of that year (1981), my boyfriend proposed to me and I decided
to get married and post-pone my college temporarily. We moved
around a lot, and after two children I was beginning to lose
my hope of one day becoming a teacher. It seemed impossible
to achieve. No colleges had been near enough and I was busy
raising babies.
In 1988,
we moved to Rhinelander. There was a two-year college there
that I decided to attend, believing that even if we were transferred
again I would be able to transfer my credits as well. Maybe
one day we would be near a four-year university. 
To help my
family financially be able to support my college education,
I also took on a waitressing job at a supper club north of Rhinelander.
Karen, the owner of the supper club, had been a teacher, and
like me had also been married at only 18 years old. When she
started her post-secondary degree, she had a daughter and a
set of twin boys. She relocated her family to Whitewater while
she attended college, leaving her husband back home. When I
found myself still in Rhinelander near the end of my two years
at Nicolet College and not anticipating another move anytime
soon, I began to look at my options for completing my degree
there. I was making quite a bit of money waitressing to support
my education so I didn’t want to give that up, and my
husband and I couldn’t really afford two residences, so
I decided to commute from Rhinelander to Stevens Point to complete
my degree.
I traveled
200 miles a day to Stevens Point for two and a half years, scheduling
my classes to begin at 9:00 a.m. so I could send my children
off to school in the morning, and I scheduled my last class
at 2:00 p.m., so I could be home shortly after my children got
home. My husband was a traveling salesman, so I couldn’t
rely on him for help to be there for the children. I’m
not sure now if his absence made my work harder or easier at
that time. I didn’t have to prepare elaborate meals in
his absence. My children loved easy meals like macaroni and
cheese with hotdogs. When I wasn’t working, I didn’t
have to worry about my husband needing quality time from me
and I could concentrate on my schoolwork after the children
were asleep.
 Just
before my last year of school, with one semester of classes
left and one semester of student teaching, my husband was transferred.
I decided to stay behind with the children until my degree was
completed, and then we joined back up with Gary in Kansas City
the summer of my graduation in 1993.
My most outstanding
teachers were kind and compassionate, and they exhibited a passion
about their teaching, which are exactly the qualities I’ve
aspired to carry. I feel my position growing up as the middle
daughter played a role in building my empathetic character that
makes me an effective teacher, which I feel was possibly part
of the global plan in making me the teacher I am. 
I attended
a private Christian school Kindergarten through eighth grade.
My early education was abundantly full of wonderfully nurturing
teachers with high expectations of their students. When I attended
the public high school, I felt a combination of less individualized
attention and what seemed like more apathetic teaching. That
was new to me.
My foremost
goal in my teaching is two-fold. I want my students to feel
that I love what I teach and that I care deeply about them as
individuals.
I’m
currently in my fifteenth year of teaching, and my dual primary
purpose has never left me. I continue to have the same aspirations
in regard to my role as a teacher. I do what I can to the best of my ability, and find myself to be quite successful with motivating students
and building a positive rapport between my students and me.
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