me

Hello, my name is Sasha Michael.  I have lived all 23 years of my life in the lovely bay area.   In addition, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend UC Berkeley for my undergraduate studies.  During the time spent residing in Berkeley, I got in touch with a local organization that changed me.  While I had always worked with children before, primarily tutoring, I had never got to experience a classroom type of setting with a diverse population.  What originally began as a semester of volunteering turned into 6 semesters.  I continued at the BYA (Berkeley Youth Alternatives) until I finished up my college work.  I grew attached to the children, especially the one I was mentoring for.  It was touching to see the children bring in their report cards and show me the vast improvements they had made; I felt I was making a difference.  Unfortunately, this center had cutbacks in funding and was unable to keep all of the same programs running.

Since I loved working with children and teaching, I tried substituting for the Vallejo Unified School District.  Initially I signed up for all grades, but immediately found my niche within the elementary aged level.  I was able to work at all of their elementary locations and be exposed to a variety of classrooms and settings.  While everyday I felt happy being greeted with new smiles and being able to teach something new, something was missing.  I wanted my own classroom!  Even during my long term assignments, I always knew that they were not my own students, only temporary ones.  Plus, I had so many offers from the children; they told me they were even willing to stay back in the same grade if I would teach them.  That is a flattering, yet a tad scary at the same time.

I started looking into a couple of credentialing programs, but found the UC Davis one to be a perfect match.  The extremely friendly welcoming I received during my initial inquiries is what originally hooked me.  Throughout the school year though, I have discovered that everyone involved in the program is more amazing than I could have imagined (the professors, fellow student body, resident teachers, and staff).  All of them combined, with the addition of my two student teaching placements, has only confirmed that I made the right decision.  I cannot wait to be a full time teacher next year.



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