My Profile
This is what I wrote as part of my application to graduate school:
Green Bay, Wisconsin would be considered a part of the Mid-West portion of the USA. It sits right on Lake Michigan. Many settlers from Germany and Belgium came here. They were farmers and they included my great-great grandparents. I did not grow up on a farm, rather the outskirts of town, with one brother and four sisters. In the sibling line-up, I fall in 5th place. I was born in 1956 and Christmas happens to fall on my birthday.
I grew up with a strong work ethic. My father was a self-taught man who had little patience for laziness. Chores and hard work were our way of life and school had its place. I was expected to do well, but parental involvement was not prevalent. It wasn’t until I was in 6th grade that a teacher realized that I couldn’t read. My education thus far was through a Catholic school, whose nuns were more concerned with discipline than learning. The reading teacher took me in her stern hands and made it her concern that I would read. She was not about to have an illiterate student in her class. To this day, many decades later, I still remember looking at the page and not recognizing most of the words there. But by the time the school year was over, I could read.
In high school I was on the honors list and involved in extra curricular activities, but somehow remained invisible to the powers that be. I wasn’t pretty, nor was I a cheer leader. My parents didn’t have money. With nothing in my corner except brains, I was told by my counselor that I wasn’t college material. I believed that, as no one in my family made college a priority. So I went to work.
I had a series of jobs that meant nothing but a pay check, which was important for paying the rent. I left my parents’ home when I was 18 to begin my life as an adult. It wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. I sewed gloves, assembled some mechanical things that to this day I still can’t explain, and became a catering cook at the local university. I met someone who became a good friend. He insisted that I start attending college. I informed him I wasn’t college material, I was too old (I was 23), and I couldn’t afford it. The deck was stacked against me and there was no way possible I would be accepted.
Short of carrying me to my first class, my friend made me ready for college despite my reasonings. He was determined. I was terrified. I knew as I walked down the hall that university security sooner or later would spot me and escort me to the nearest exit door, realizing the terrible mistake admissions had made. I avoided the Chancellor at all costs. In four years no one ever realized the mistake. Instead what happened was that I fell in love with college. I was involved in anything political that was going on. I made good grades and I made friends that I still have today. As they handed me my diploma, I decided I was college material, after all
I went to graduate school for one year in 1982 and realized that I really wanted to work. I dropped out and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I found work at a temp agency, learning computers. I enjoyed the work and I enjoyed the city that was large enough to keep me interested and small enough not to scare me. I live there still.
In 1986 I became a single mother. I didn’t know I was pregnant until 7 hours before I gave birth. It was quite a surprise to me and the world I lived in. My daughter was premature and stayed in the hospital for a number of weeks. Even in those weeks I didn’t have time to adjust. How does one go about adjusting to a new baby without preparation? I don’t have the answer even today. The experience changed my life, changed how the world turns on its axis, changed speech patterns and more. I had all the same issues and worries that most parents have. I didn’t have any answers and plenty of questions. Somehow I muddled through it and my daughter survived it all.
A friend called me one day in 1987 after she saw a post for a computer instructor in a local paper. After talking about it, I gave the place a call thinking “why not?” All they can say is no, which is exactly what they said. After describing my skills and credentials, I was informed that I didn’t qualify. I didn’t invest a whole lot in this so I wasn’t too put off by the rejection. Three hours later I received a phone call from another college affiliated with the college I called. I was nearly hired on the spot. I was given one computer literacy class to teach. I was successful and the next quarter I was given two classes to teach. Within nine months I was teaching full time. My subjects included Medical Terminology, Laboratory Math, Speech Communication and, of course, Computer Literacy. Not only was I college material, I was now a full-time college instructor.
After 8 years of teaching full-time, the Vice President of the college offered me an administrative position. Because of my nature, I was beginning to feel a measure of burnout in the classroom. My energy was waning and a new challenge was refreshing. I became the Curriculum Coordinator. However, to qualify for this position I had to have a Master’s Degree. I didn’t have that. So back to college I went. I enrolled in the Human Development Program at St. Mary’s University. The best word I can use for the experience is MAGIC. I was afforded the opportunity to write my own program. Within the framework of graduate expectations, I could construct the courses and curriculum that mattered to me. With the guidance and tutelage of an advisor, I was free to explore learning from a completely different perspective. I graduated with my Masters in 1996. I took with me a found poetic voice, a vision of learning “outside the box,” and a renewed sense of self.
Since graduating, I have adopted the Haiku form of poetry as medicine for my heart and soul. I love the discipline that it demands and it pure thoughtfulness. I also write free-form poetry. In the past year I have taken up Japanese Brush Painting. I’m also a photographer. These things do not hide away in my drawer to be brought out when I have time for them. In one way or another, they are a part of my everyday life. My eye is trained to see things and my ear trained to hear things in tuned with my art. I have the great pleasure of working with another woman who is an artist. Together we organize an annual artist colloquium where we invite artists to display their art to the community. It is an opportunity for artists who don’t see themselves as artists to gather in a place that celebrates their vision and skill. We just held our 6th annual show.
I was recently offered a position as Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment. I don’t need another degree to hold this position. In fact, I will never earn another degree because my work requires it. The next degree I earn will be solely because I want it. I would like to be in a program that allows me the same freedom that my master’s degree offered, namely, the freedom to be actively involved in the degree design. I wish to be the motivating factor in what I study and how I go about completing the work involved. I am disciplined and know how to manage my time. I’m a critical thinker and capable of thinking beyond text books and “how things have always been done.” I am most interested in the study of adults as learners. It would be an extension of my graduate work.
As far as accomplishments in my life, besides the ones already mentioned above, I’m a member of Who’s Who in Education, I’m a Capricorn, and I’m a Grandmother (although I don’t suppose that is my accomplishment.)
Green Bay, Wisconsin would be considered a part of the Mid-West portion of the USA. It sits right on Lake Michigan. Many settlers from Germany and Belgium came here. They were farmers and they included my great-great grandparents. I did not grow up on a farm, rather the outskirts of town, with one brother and four sisters. In the sibling line-up, I fall in 5th place. I was born in 1956 and Christmas happens to fall on my birthday.
I grew up with a strong work ethic. My father was a self-taught man who had little patience for laziness. Chores and hard work were our way of life and school had its place. I was expected to do well, but parental involvement was not prevalent. It wasn’t until I was in 6th grade that a teacher realized that I couldn’t read. My education thus far was through a Catholic school, whose nuns were more concerned with discipline than learning. The reading teacher took me in her stern hands and made it her concern that I would read. She was not about to have an illiterate student in her class. To this day, many decades later, I still remember looking at the page and not recognizing most of the words there. But by the time the school year was over, I could read.
In high school I was on the honors list and involved in extra curricular activities, but somehow remained invisible to the powers that be. I wasn’t pretty, nor was I a cheer leader. My parents didn’t have money. With nothing in my corner except brains, I was told by my counselor that I wasn’t college material. I believed that, as no one in my family made college a priority. So I went to work.
I had a series of jobs that meant nothing but a pay check, which was important for paying the rent. I left my parents’ home when I was 18 to begin my life as an adult. It wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. I sewed gloves, assembled some mechanical things that to this day I still can’t explain, and became a catering cook at the local university. I met someone who became a good friend. He insisted that I start attending college. I informed him I wasn’t college material, I was too old (I was 23), and I couldn’t afford it. The deck was stacked against me and there was no way possible I would be accepted.
Short of carrying me to my first class, my friend made me ready for college despite my reasonings. He was determined. I was terrified. I knew as I walked down the hall that university security sooner or later would spot me and escort me to the nearest exit door, realizing the terrible mistake admissions had made. I avoided the Chancellor at all costs. In four years no one ever realized the mistake. Instead what happened was that I fell in love with college. I was involved in anything political that was going on. I made good grades and I made friends that I still have today. As they handed me my diploma, I decided I was college material, after all
I went to graduate school for one year in 1982 and realized that I really wanted to work. I dropped out and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I found work at a temp agency, learning computers. I enjoyed the work and I enjoyed the city that was large enough to keep me interested and small enough not to scare me. I live there still.
In 1986 I became a single mother. I didn’t know I was pregnant until 7 hours before I gave birth. It was quite a surprise to me and the world I lived in. My daughter was premature and stayed in the hospital for a number of weeks. Even in those weeks I didn’t have time to adjust. How does one go about adjusting to a new baby without preparation? I don’t have the answer even today. The experience changed my life, changed how the world turns on its axis, changed speech patterns and more. I had all the same issues and worries that most parents have. I didn’t have any answers and plenty of questions. Somehow I muddled through it and my daughter survived it all.
A friend called me one day in 1987 after she saw a post for a computer instructor in a local paper. After talking about it, I gave the place a call thinking “why not?” All they can say is no, which is exactly what they said. After describing my skills and credentials, I was informed that I didn’t qualify. I didn’t invest a whole lot in this so I wasn’t too put off by the rejection. Three hours later I received a phone call from another college affiliated with the college I called. I was nearly hired on the spot. I was given one computer literacy class to teach. I was successful and the next quarter I was given two classes to teach. Within nine months I was teaching full time. My subjects included Medical Terminology, Laboratory Math, Speech Communication and, of course, Computer Literacy. Not only was I college material, I was now a full-time college instructor.
After 8 years of teaching full-time, the Vice President of the college offered me an administrative position. Because of my nature, I was beginning to feel a measure of burnout in the classroom. My energy was waning and a new challenge was refreshing. I became the Curriculum Coordinator. However, to qualify for this position I had to have a Master’s Degree. I didn’t have that. So back to college I went. I enrolled in the Human Development Program at St. Mary’s University. The best word I can use for the experience is MAGIC. I was afforded the opportunity to write my own program. Within the framework of graduate expectations, I could construct the courses and curriculum that mattered to me. With the guidance and tutelage of an advisor, I was free to explore learning from a completely different perspective. I graduated with my Masters in 1996. I took with me a found poetic voice, a vision of learning “outside the box,” and a renewed sense of self.
Since graduating, I have adopted the Haiku form of poetry as medicine for my heart and soul. I love the discipline that it demands and it pure thoughtfulness. I also write free-form poetry. In the past year I have taken up Japanese Brush Painting. I’m also a photographer. These things do not hide away in my drawer to be brought out when I have time for them. In one way or another, they are a part of my everyday life. My eye is trained to see things and my ear trained to hear things in tuned with my art. I have the great pleasure of working with another woman who is an artist. Together we organize an annual artist colloquium where we invite artists to display their art to the community. It is an opportunity for artists who don’t see themselves as artists to gather in a place that celebrates their vision and skill. We just held our 6th annual show.
I was recently offered a position as Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment. I don’t need another degree to hold this position. In fact, I will never earn another degree because my work requires it. The next degree I earn will be solely because I want it. I would like to be in a program that allows me the same freedom that my master’s degree offered, namely, the freedom to be actively involved in the degree design. I wish to be the motivating factor in what I study and how I go about completing the work involved. I am disciplined and know how to manage my time. I’m a critical thinker and capable of thinking beyond text books and “how things have always been done.” I am most interested in the study of adults as learners. It would be an extension of my graduate work.
As far as accomplishments in my life, besides the ones already mentioned above, I’m a member of Who’s Who in Education, I’m a Capricorn, and I’m a Grandmother (although I don’t suppose that is my accomplishment.)
posted by TCW at 8:53 AM
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