I believe,
by the time I was a little girl, I started developing my interest in working with young children. My grandparents often commented, “You must have baby smell because the little ones like to follow you around. You should become a teacher of young children.”
I was born in China and was raised by my grandparents while both my parents were busy at work. Besides educational experiences, my family and cultural elements also had a strong impact on my development. My grandma was my first and most important teacher. She taught me to become independent and confident. One day after I turned ten, grandma told me, "I believe you are ready to take care of your own laundry now. Start today, I will not wash your clothes for you anymore”. Of course, I did not take her words too seriously until I noticed that my clothes had piled up in the bathroom. Without grandma saying anything, I discovered the consequences, that the pile of clothes would only getting higher and higher. When I started doing laundry, grandma never judged me on whether the clothes were clean or good enough. Her only comment was “see, you can wash them all by yourself.” Through this experience, grandma included many early childhood development practices even though she had never studied about child development, like offering age-appropriate activities, setting boundaries, and focusing on the progress, but not the result. Today, I still refer to this experience, both on raising my own son and at work.
Before I turned eighteen, I would only stay with my parents during the important holidays, like Chinese New Year. One of my favorited cultural activities during Chinese New Year was collecting red envelops from adults. Unfortunately, red envelops also came to represent a negative experience for me. When I was about five, I woke up and found that all my red envelops disappear from under my pillow. I was so sad so that I cried in front of my relatives. Instead of supporting me and walking me through my emotional break down, my mom warned me I had to stop crying because crying would not bring back my red envelops. She added that I would be bringing bad luck to everyone since no one should cry during Chinese New Year. Today, being an educator of young children, I will hold the crying young child in my arms and let her/him know that I understand she/he is sad and that I am willing to stay and solve the problem with her/him together.
I obtained a master's degree in early childhood education at St. Ambrose University in the summer of 2021. I plan to stay in the early childhood education field, where I am able to be a nurturer as well as an educator of young children who works directly with young children and their families. Most importantly, as a mother, the first person to attend college in the family, and the first generation to immigrate to the U.S., I plan to succeed, advance, and survive with a good education and as a positive example for my son.
by the time I was a little girl, I started developing my interest in working with young children. My grandparents often commented, “You must have baby smell because the little ones like to follow you around. You should become a teacher of young children.”
I was born in China and was raised by my grandparents while both my parents were busy at work. Besides educational experiences, my family and cultural elements also had a strong impact on my development. My grandma was my first and most important teacher. She taught me to become independent and confident. One day after I turned ten, grandma told me, "I believe you are ready to take care of your own laundry now. Start today, I will not wash your clothes for you anymore”. Of course, I did not take her words too seriously until I noticed that my clothes had piled up in the bathroom. Without grandma saying anything, I discovered the consequences, that the pile of clothes would only getting higher and higher. When I started doing laundry, grandma never judged me on whether the clothes were clean or good enough. Her only comment was “see, you can wash them all by yourself.” Through this experience, grandma included many early childhood development practices even though she had never studied about child development, like offering age-appropriate activities, setting boundaries, and focusing on the progress, but not the result. Today, I still refer to this experience, both on raising my own son and at work.
Before I turned eighteen, I would only stay with my parents during the important holidays, like Chinese New Year. One of my favorited cultural activities during Chinese New Year was collecting red envelops from adults. Unfortunately, red envelops also came to represent a negative experience for me. When I was about five, I woke up and found that all my red envelops disappear from under my pillow. I was so sad so that I cried in front of my relatives. Instead of supporting me and walking me through my emotional break down, my mom warned me I had to stop crying because crying would not bring back my red envelops. She added that I would be bringing bad luck to everyone since no one should cry during Chinese New Year. Today, being an educator of young children, I will hold the crying young child in my arms and let her/him know that I understand she/he is sad and that I am willing to stay and solve the problem with her/him together.
I obtained a master's degree in early childhood education at St. Ambrose University in the summer of 2021. I plan to stay in the early childhood education field, where I am able to be a nurturer as well as an educator of young children who works directly with young children and their families. Most importantly, as a mother, the first person to attend college in the family, and the first generation to immigrate to the U.S., I plan to succeed, advance, and survive with a good education and as a positive example for my son.