Reflecting on My Educational Goals: An Emotional Journey
By Kerry Shelton
When I revisited my goal statement I felt a variety of emotions. First, I
was surprised at how much I have accomplished toward my goals during the past
four years. My goal statement is something that I wrote in March of 2008 and I
did not read again until now. The goals that I hoped to achieve in 2008 are
goals that I would still consider today if I were applying to the program.
The second emotion that I experienced was a feeling of happiness. I was
truly happy when reading over the statement because the MAED program was exactly
what I was hoping it would be. It allowed me to work toward my professional
goals as I grew to become a more confident teacher. When I wrote my goal
statement I mentioned that I was looking forward to the flexibility the program
had to offer. As a kindergarten teacher, and now a mother of three children, the
flexibility of completing the coursework any time of day or night has been an
invaluable asset of the program for me. While flexibility was an important
consideration, I also wanted to be a part of a program that offered a quality
education. Both of these goals were definitely accomplished.
The final emotion that I experienced was a moment of sadness. Sadness
because the completion of this program was the main and obvious focus all along-
now I have reached that goal. It was a long road of hard work and at times even quite stressful as I juggled work, a growing family and college courses. Much different from my undergraduate work when completing the courses was my only focus. Although I have been busy with other aspects of life as I worked toward my educational goals, this is a piece of it that I will miss.
Another goal in my original goal statement was to continuously research
the best educational philosophies. This is a goal that I intend to pursue
throughout my teaching career. Continuously researching and implementing these
philosophies will, allow my students access to the most current educational
trends in academics and technology.
By Kerry Shelton
When I revisited my goal statement I felt a variety of emotions. First, I
was surprised at how much I have accomplished toward my goals during the past
four years. My goal statement is something that I wrote in March of 2008 and I
did not read again until now. The goals that I hoped to achieve in 2008 are
goals that I would still consider today if I were applying to the program.
The second emotion that I experienced was a feeling of happiness. I was
truly happy when reading over the statement because the MAED program was exactly
what I was hoping it would be. It allowed me to work toward my professional
goals as I grew to become a more confident teacher. When I wrote my goal
statement I mentioned that I was looking forward to the flexibility the program
had to offer. As a kindergarten teacher, and now a mother of three children, the
flexibility of completing the coursework any time of day or night has been an
invaluable asset of the program for me. While flexibility was an important
consideration, I also wanted to be a part of a program that offered a quality
education. Both of these goals were definitely accomplished.
The final emotion that I experienced was a moment of sadness. Sadness
because the completion of this program was the main and obvious focus all along-
now I have reached that goal. It was a long road of hard work and at times even quite stressful as I juggled work, a growing family and college courses. Much different from my undergraduate work when completing the courses was my only focus. Although I have been busy with other aspects of life as I worked toward my educational goals, this is a piece of it that I will miss.
Another goal in my original goal statement was to continuously research
the best educational philosophies. This is a goal that I intend to pursue
throughout my teaching career. Continuously researching and implementing these
philosophies will, allow my students access to the most current educational
trends in academics and technology.