For my parallel major I chose special education. My passion was always to be an educator but I thought I needed a job with a better income and I let that decide my future. It is a major I have always wanted to do because it is still a way of helping people but not in a hospital around blood and vomit. My sister has special needs and I saw how hard she struggled in school but she had the support she needed to make her successful. Growing up seeing how close she and her classmates got with their teacher made my heart melt. I want to be that support for kids in her same position.
I also made close relationships with some of my teachers and still talk to them to this day. The bond between a teacher and a student is something special. I love kids and I want to positively impact their lives the way my teachers did. I know the money is not as good as nursing but, as a backup plan, I am happy about it. Something interesting and exciting about the education major is I don’t need chemistry! A career that I can do with a special education major is teaching. Teachers can have a job in almost every school division. Special education teachers are needed even more than classroom teachers. I want to to work with k-12 so that gives me a wide range and more opportunities.
I can gain professional experiences and learn more about being an educator by getting hands-on opportunities. I have decided to get a job in the education field. This summer I already have a job lined up to work at a school teaching summer camps and doing activities with the kids. The kids in these summer camps are kindergarten through 8th grade. My mom is also a teacher, not a special education teacher but she has said I can help her teach a few lessons and come up with lesson plans the last month of school for her students.
My advisor Jordana Naomi Roberto has been extremely helpful in helping me pick some classes for my minor. Some courses that are needed for a special education major and not a nursing major are:
*Legal Aspects and Characteristics
*Classroom & Behavioral Mgmt Techniques
*Birth through Adolescence
*Instructional Design I