I am a lot more sure of my purpose after internship. That purpose has gotten a lot broader than it may have been before, but for something I have struggled deeply to find, I’m pretty damn sure of it now. I want to make youth feel heard and make youth feel powerful. During my internship I was able to exactly that. While making a video that showcased students advocating for an Outdoor Outreach program in their school, I had to stay late and work at home but I couldn’t have cared less. I was allowing students to be heard and that’s all that mattered. Before internship, I was pretty much set on that I wanted to be a high school english teacher. I now have this more broad goal, but I like that freedom. During my internship, I was blessed enough to have the absolutely amazing woman that is Regina Kruglyak as my mentor. She is the definition of a free spirit, constantly travelling and finding ways to be able to incorporate her passion in her work. She has played a big part in realizing that I need to take things at my own pace and prioritize who I am over who others want me to be. One of the last things that she said to me was to be open to anything. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized that it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, but what I am getting and giving through it. Science isn’t my passion, but I still found passion in the work I was doing because it was giving students a voice. Outdoor learning isn’t my passion, but I recognize that it helps a lot of kids in a variety of ways and working to support that is my passion. I hope that in finding my passion AND my purpose, I will be able to persevere through work even when I don’t feel is directly contributing to my passion. With my passion as my guiding force by my purpose as the lense I look at life, I hope to be able to tie whatever I am doing to these two things. For the first time in my life, I am not scared of the vagueness that the future holds, I am excited by it. It means that as long as I know my purpose, I have the clay that I then am able to mold to whatever I feel drawn to at any given time in my life.
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My contributions helped the district realize how much student voice was needed. I was constantly commended for my work, that it was very meaningful and was impacting the way they wrote the curriculum. My person work was valued enough to ask me to return for a summer internship with the ELA department, and they have already started asking me for advice on their lessons. However, I am more proud of the doors I have hopefully opened for others. After seeing how student perspective can impact a lesson plan in ways that adults don’t think about, there was talk of wanting more interns. My hope is that not only does this help high tech students secure an internship working in education, but that this ends up in a collaboration with San Diego Unified School District students. While I can give great advice for implementing project based learning structures and a fresh way of learning, I also am not the student who this curriculum will affect or need to reflect. I think the most valuable insight will come from students within the district who represent the students of that school. High Tech is small and not very diverse. These schools are huge and have students of every race and religion. In my time interning and visiting schools within the district, I saw a lot of people who did not look like me, and while I can try my best to advocate for equitable education, those in groups that I, or other students, may not understand, should be the ones at the forefront of providing perspective. During my time at SDUSD, I was able to show educators how valuable student insight is. After my time at SDUSD, I hope to leave behind a role to be filled with diverse and bright minds in and out of the district.
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AuthorFollow my path as I attempt to stick the landing on the most difficult academic year of my life so far. Archives
June 2019
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