Why I Teach

My journey to becoming a teacher is probably not the most common or cookie cutter story by any means. Growing up I always wanted to be a lawyer (my mom said I would make a great lawyer because I loved to prove my point by arguing/debating everything (respectfully that is) and I liked to be right no matter what. What an amazing quality that was to have I thought. After realizing how many years of school I would have to attend law school I decided I better not and then I became undecided of what I wanted to do as a career.

Fast forward to high school. I was super focused on succeeding in basketball. My sophomore year I moved from Ozona America to Fort Stockton Texas. I, of course, continued playing sports when I moved. I was the most successful at basketball and was blessed to have scouts watching and I knew for sure I would be playing college ball. In the meantime I also had the opportunity to take cosmetology courses in high school as I thought being a hairdresser would be the career for me. I was also offered a basketball scholarship and thought I would play ball for the rest of my young life. That all changed when I found out I would be bringing a sweet baby boy into this world shortly after graduating from high school. I then went on to Midland College while I was pregnant and thought I would get certified to be a drug and alcohol abuse counselor. After one semester of classes towards that I changed my mind AGAIN. This was the turning point to deciding my big WHY to my career.

I was a single mother for 14 years. Within those years I worked full time at Sitel Corporation. Once my oldest son started kindergarten I decided to go back to school. I was working full time and going to school full time. After I finished my basics at Howard College I finally picked my major in Education. I often visited my son's school during lunch once a week to eat with him. I absolutely loved being in that environment and watching all the teachers interact with the students. What I saw was such a positive atmosphere that teachers worked in and I thought how fun working with kids and other teachers would be. Also, how awesome would it be to impact kids from all cultures in a positive way. Little did those teachers at his school know that they were inspiring me to become a teacher. This just goes to show that people are always watching us and being aware of that can have a great impact, good or bad. 

One aspect that fueled my interest in teaching was being told I could not do it. If anything encourages me more to be successful in anything it is being told I can’t and me taking that as a challenge that I can and will. This has helped me with over coming many challenges I have experienced as a teacher. On the hardest days of teaching, I know what I bring as a teacher to the table is greatly valued and that helps me to push through all obstacles. My goal is to see all my students succeed and I always want to give my best to help in any way I can to see them do so.

I transferred to Angelo State after I finished all my basics. I taught in Big Lake, Texas and absolutely loved it there. I graduated from Angelo State in December of 2011 and got hired to teach and coach that January in 2012 there in Big Lake. I taught all grades 6-8 in ELA and coached middle school volleyball, basketball, track and field, cheerleading and Freshman and JV volleyball all 5 years I lived there. 

In 2016 I married my husband Louis and moved to Mobile, Alabama to where he is from. In October 2017 the Lord moved us back to Texas (specifically to Lincoln Middle School for me and youth pastor for him. I got hired in the middle of the year which is rare and also took the place of a teacher with the same last name as me.) For sure my husband and I took that as confirmation that the Lord had strategically placed us back in San Angelo for a purpose. My husband and I now have 4 kids, Kepler 21 (Active Military in the NAVY), Eli 5, Solomon 4 and Kaisley will be 3 years old on August 31st.

I look forward to seeing Lincoln Middle School be the greatest at everything and have no doubt we are all on the right track. Choosing a career in teaching has been the most challenging and rewarding decision I have made. I absolutely enjoy working with my students and look forward to a continued career in impacting the lives of kids and encouraging them to be the best humans in the world.