Personal Narrative

Running head: MY AMERICAN DREAM Personal Narrative Nebraska Wesleyan University Dylan Doggett

MY AMERICAN DREAM

2 “My American Dream”



Life is interesting. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and

because of this, I have landed where I am at today. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I spent quite a bit of time in Omaha at Children’s Hospital. The nurses that cared for me were truly excellent, because of them I wanted to be a nurse from the beginning. Throughout high school I learned that well, I’m not very good a science and nursing requires a lot of science classes. From then I started researching what else I could do with children, and the most obvious of those is become a teacher. I started out by being a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten classroom my junior and senior year of high school. After this wonderful experience I was sold, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Visiting colleges did not come easy for me. I visited about 10 different

colleges and still didn’t know where I wanted to go, but I knew that UNL was too large for me. Then I visited Nebraska Wesleyan and I instantly knew it was for me. I loved it the first time I stepped on campus. I met with a professor from the education department and she convinced me to sign up for an introduction to special education class. I graduated from NWU in December of 2016, which is not typical. I mean if you think about it there are not a lot of teaching jobs that are available starting in January. Luckily in bigger district there are typically a couple of jobs, but not many to pick from. NWU holds an interview day for graduates, so I attended. I picked three districts to interview with: Lincoln Public Schools, Omaha Public Schools, and Millard Public Schools. I did not really know where I wanted to

MY AMERICAN DREAM

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go, but I knew that the Omaha interview was just going to be practice. I didn’t want to teach in Omaha. I was committed to my apartment in Lincoln until May.

As stated earlier, life has a funny way of always working out. Needless to say

Omaha Public Schools had a couple of full-time openings. Being a recent college graduate, I simply wanted a job. I decided that a full-time paycheck would probably be the best option financially. I interviewed at two different schools in Omaha. I turned down the first job offer and accepted a second interview at Oak Valley Elementary. An hour after interviewing I received a call with an offer. I accepted my position at Oak Valley Elementary teaching ACP (Alternate Curriculum Program). I honestly did not even know what ACP meant. Following accepting the job I spent a lot of my free time searching Google trying to figure out what ACP even meant. Nothing on Google could have adequately prepared me for what I was walking into with this special classroom. Next thing I know in May I’m moving completely out of my comfort zone and moving into a cute little studio apartment in Omaha, agreeing to another year at Oak Valley.

Reflecting back on my first year and a half of teaching. I have realized three

very important things. First, the most important thing a teacher can do for students is advocate for them, especially being a special education teacher. My students cannot advocate for themselves, so that is why it is critical for me to advocate for them. Second, set life skill goals so that when students leave my classroom they can function and have some practical skills. Third, lesson planning is typically a waste of time, yes outline the day, but don’t write long elaborate lesson plans. I have found that my unprepared lessons turn out much better than the perfectly planned out

MY AMERICAN DREAM lessons. I truly enjoy working with the population of students I am working with, which has led me to furthering my education. Education is key in life, especially for creating a successful life. “My American Dream,” is to accomplish my master’s degree from NWU and continue going wherever life seems to take me.

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