My Career Goal journey from refugee kid to grad student
My long-term goal and dream is to become an educator or teacher. In this very important role, I can make a positive difference in students’ lives. In order to become the best educator that I can be, I need to obtain a Masters in Education. It is a requirement that all instructors at my college must have a Masters in order to teach students. I currently am a graduate student at the University of Washington, Bothell location. I was very fortunate to be accepted since I was such a bad student as an undergraduate.
My family and I left Laos in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War with only the clothes that we had on. We ended up in a refugee camp called Ban Vinai in Northern Thailand. We settled in the United States but without any resources or support. When I arrived in Kansas, I did not speak a word of English. I had learning difficulties and had to see a speech therapist. It was due to positive mentors and teachers supporting me that I excelled at school. They taught me to work hard, not to give up and advised me to pursue a higher education. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school and college. I would like to give back by working in my community as an educator too. I believed that my personal experience could translate on how educators can improved on services to new immigrant/ refugee students.
For more information about the history of the Hmong people, click on the buttons below.
As an educator, I would like to empower marginalized students from low income, students of color, recent immigrants, first generation college students, students with disabilities and international students to become successful, fulfill their educational pursuits and succeed in life. Therefore, I would like to obtain my Masters in Education so that I can have a solid foundation in curriculum planning for diverse students, learn about culturally and relevant teaching methods, gain leadership skills and build my confidence level. The graduate program at UW Bothell is specifically designed to assist me in helping students in a college setting and also will prepare me to be the best teacher that I can be. I believe that earning a Masters will open new doors for me and will also fulfill a lifelong dream and a goal of mine for many years.
Currently my college only employs about 5% of Instructors of color. This does not reflect the diverse student population at all. Students need more culturally trained instructors to be able to connect with them and to advocate for them. There is so much work that needs to be done to improve services at my college. One of the ways that I can contribute to my college community is to attend graduate school and earn my Masters in Education. It might also inspire my students and kids to seek out an advanced degree too. Students today have so many challenges, barriers and struggles. It is essential that I am prepare and ready to help them succeed. I believe that grad school will assist me in gaining the tools and knowledge to help students make choices and succeed in life.
After a year of getting to know my classmates, I feel more comfortable and relaxed to contribute and make meaningful comments as it relates to the higher education setting. Sometimes it is a struggle to get a sentence in since many of my classmates are friends that have taken past several classes together. I now can share thoughts and opinions without feeling anxiety about it. I learned so much from listening to the other students’ classroom stories, blogs, canvas discussions, their lesson plans, struggles and personal experiences. I have enjoyed the readings and playing with different applications such as Twitter and WordPress. I also have appreciated the cooperative learning atmosphere by visiting everyone's websites, curation and twitter feeds. I feel that I have accomplished my goal of learning new digital technology and getting connected with other personal learning networks and the community at UW Bothell.
