My name is Hasel, and I am a graduating senior here at CSUN. Hooray! I am 22 years old, and have plans of becoming an English teacher. English has always been a favorite subject of mine, and it is the subject I've always felt comfortable with throughout my education. Suffice it to say, I love reading and books rank very high on my list of greatest things ever made. Haha. This past winter break, I had the pleasure of reading Madame Bovary and the entire Twilight saga. Yes, the entire saga and, yes, I said Twilight was a pleasure to read. Despite the obvious reason of relating to the student population I hope to one day work with, I read Twilight because I thought it would be a breath of fresh air after a semester of reading pretty tough literature. For all its melodrama and fairytale romance, Twilight really did make me giggle like a 13 year old girl, and frankly, for a book to bring that out of me deserves just a little something. So here's me recommending that you, my blog readers, read Twilight with an open mind. Also, save your money and don't watch the movie version. It wasn't very good in my opinion.
I apologize for going off tangent, but if I'm going to introduce myself, I might as well be honest and say that I can be a little scatterbrained. I'm also pretty responsible, which brings me to my other occupation other than the full-time student status I have here at CSUN. Currently, I work at Canoga Park Elementary as a teacher's assistant. When I say teacher's assistant, I don't mean office slave or coffee girl whose duties, unfortunately, have been given to some T.A friends I know and who resent. Luckily, my position, although part time, is primarily literacy based. Because Canoga Park is considered a program improving school, T.A's were hired specifically to help certain students (considered strategic) from grades k-5 become more proficient readers. I happily took this job partly because of this goal, and partly because I wanted to see whether or not I'd like teaching at an elementary school as opposed to middle or high school. Although, I love my job and the students I work with, my experience in primary education has assured me that I'm still looking for something more in the English discipline that middle and high school could provide me.
Becoming a teacher wasn't the first career I had in mind. I've fluctuated with becoming a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, and at one point, a very desperate, angry adolescent point, I fooled around with the idea of becoming a temp or a modern day gypsy just to get back at my parents for expecting too much out of me when I was younger. I've matured since then, but what brought me to wanting to become a teacher was not only the influence of certain special teachers I've had the fortune of having, but also my affinity for reading and writing that I feel compelled to share with others especially kids. I'm not sure if I can consider that a calling to the profession, but it's something, and I'm willing to see through to it until I'm sure.
Other than wanting to become a teacher, I also want to travel. You know, see the world kind of thing like everyone else. It is something I've promised myself to do before "settling" down if settling down meant having a career, a husband, and kids. I can't think that far ahead, and I'm not sure if I want to just yet. I also want a dog. I couldn't have pets when I was younger because BOTH my parents were allergic to animal dander. My boyfriend of almost three years is a complete animal lover, and has utterly sold me on the Jack-White Fang relationship :) So, besides graduating this May, and hopefully getting into graduate school, my goal for this sumer is getting my own White Fang and not failing at raising him. Wish me LUCK!
