A lot of graduates from my school attend Illinois State University because of its proximity to their homes and the wide variety of majors offered. However, in my case, the choice to attend Illinois State was much closer to home. Both of my parents are ISU graduates and my sister has just begun her Sophomore year there. Choosing Illinois State felt like choosing home because my family has a history there. The first time I visited the campus in Normal, IL was roughly two years ago when my sister was deciding where she wanted to apply. Traipsing through the Quad underneath the shadows of institutions of learning and the trees of knowledge reminded me of a monumental Catalpa tree that once stood guard outside my house. The tree was planted by my grandfather and years after he passed and the tree had been cut down I still remember the picnics and games hosted beneath its branches. Being on the ISU campus that day I looked forward to forming similar memories there. Not to mention that my dream career is teaching and ISU is known to have the best teaching program in the state.

I have known for a while that I wanted to pursue a career in teaching because of my fondness for children and my desire to help others succeed. So I took courses at Neuqua Valley high school that would prepare me for such a career. The courses I took included Early Child development, Introduction to Education, and three semesters of Early Childhood Teach lab. In the Early Childhood Teach lab, also known as the Wee Wildcat preschool, students write and execute lesson plans to teach a group of fifteen 3-5-year-old children. Students are then evaluated on their teaching in the preschool, and receive grades for their final portfolios that contain all original and revised lesson plans along with photos of them teaching and examples of work completed by the preschoolers.

One lesson in particular sticks out in my mind, under the science curriculum and holiday theme. I decided to frame my lesson around the use of the five senses in order to compare different types of Christmas (pine) trees. My father and I went to Wheatland Salem Church where a boy scout troop was selling pine trees and wreaths and rummaged through the spare tree parts to find branches and stumps from different types of trees. Later that night I spent hours classifying the pile of twigs into three distinct types of trees. In class the next week when I taught my lesson the children understood the concept of smelling, observing, and touching the tree parts in order to tell which tree was which. To say that the lesson went off without a hitch would be a bit of an overstatement but the children did take something away from my lesson, so the end goal was accomplished. Unfortunately, the children had to be asked to stop hitting each other with the branches, but as long as the lesson kept the children's attention they behaved.

There are many reasons why I feel that I belong at Illinois State. My family has a history at the campus so it seems like a good place to set down roots and continue to grow. Another reason being the legendary teaching program offered at the school that will help me to become an excellent teacher. And most of all because Illinois State is home to future educators and past family members, who will help me to nurture my teaching abilities. Being surrounded by other future teachers at Illinois State will help me learn how to work well with other teachers to develop a curriculum or work to improve other aspects of my teaching style. At ISU I will continue to learn and grow as a person while helping others around me to do the same.