"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -George Foreman
I was interviewed for the suicide prevention organizer with the Community Partnership of the Ozarks (CPO) organization; the interview was conducted via zoom. This was my first virtual interview where I experienced what that felt like and how to communicate my strengths and skills through the computer’s Webcam. Another interview took place with Ozarks Medical Center (OMC, renamed Ozarks Healthcare). I attended two interviews; the initial interview and the follow up interview. I learned how to express my organization skills and deliver quality interpersonal skills to the interviewers for the position of a social worker. My next interview was with Three Rivers Hospice for the position of an outreach specialist. In the interview, I learned about the position, what kind of negotiation skills are needed, and the amount of travel required. It was a pleasant professional in-person experience. Although I did not end up being hired for any of these positions due to my lack of experience in the medical field, I have learned how to connect with professionals better through open and honest communication. Soon after this, I decided to reassess my career goals and began searching for a position that I was truly passionate for. Additionally, I discovered that I was still hungry to learn more and started conducting research on graduate school programs. It was through my curiosity to learn that I revealed my enthusiasm for teaching.
I worked at Hibbett Sports in West Plains, Missouri for five years from 2016 to 2021. I specialized in customer service, store organization, and managerial operations. Practicing interpersonal communication in that department becomes a way of life. Eventually, I got comfortable with conflict management and conflict resolution between employees and customers which is inevitable in any business. These top two skills are imperative to practice as a retail associate. Through working at the sports store, I amassed great knowledge about sports shoes. Depending on the customer’s height, weight, and occupation, I could deliver the product best suited to his or her needs. Throughout the years I worked there, my boss continued to complement the quality of my customer service. At the end of those years, I parted ways with the sports store because I wanted to become actively involved in education.
From 2014 to 2016, I worked at the West Plains Country Club doing golf course maintenance. During this job, I raked the bunkers, line trimmed, mowed the rough, and mowed tees and approaches. This gave me experience handling moderate to heavy machinery. In addition, I participated in landscaping such as elevating a tee mound and cutting down trees. This work experience provided me with a disciplined routine of waking up early and the physical demands conditioned my body. However, my career aspirations inevitably guided me toward an occupation with more upward mobility.
If there are two things in life that I know with utmost certainty, they are that I love to learn and I love to teach. As if participating in graduate school was not enough, I have a habit of looking for lessons wherever I go. My passion for learning reflects the continuing goal of improving my knowledge base in a highly competitive world where learning is the new currency. Throughout my experience as a substitute teacher and, especially, as a father, teaching is a way of life that I cannot get enough of. I want to influence the educational world for the better. I want a diverse foundational experience in the K-12 setting. Ultimately, I want to discover how to teach self-improvement as a professor at a university. However, I realize that I have much more to study and a lot more work experience to accrue in education before this can be actualized. Although this would likely be perceived as daunting to most, the challenge of self- improvement encourages me because we all have a personal journey with it. In conclusion, I believe the more we strive to understand each other, the closer we come to attaining it.