I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. I was always the odd man out in any class I had as an undergraduate. There was also the COVID-19 pandemonium, which meant not being in-person to learn, which took me months to adjust to. When you combine these two situations you have a recipe for awkward social disaster. I always assumed I wanted an education career with the way I enjoyed interacting with children, but there was no definitive plan for my future-until TCSJ.
Now, I was looking into different teaching programs, and Teachers College of San Joaquin was a contender, but I thought that I was going to go to CSU Stanislaus, which is where I achieved my Bachelors degree. I went to an open house for TCSJ, where I saw what was in store for me, and where I got to listen to the Q & A panel tell their experiences at the college. The staff at TCSJ were also open to my abundant amount of questions, and once I made the decision to put in my application there was immediate responsiveness. This was a slight shock, coming from a large university where waiting 3-5 business days for a response to any email was normal: I liked this, I liked this very much. It seemed more personal, and after the cold unresponsiveness of my previous college experience, I knew I needed this in my life.
Once I started at TCSJ, there was a very brief period of uncertainty as I navigated my new surroundings. Between amazing professors, and a cohort that was willing to be an accepting community to lift each other up and see everyone become successful, I believe I have found my place. I am not the only student to feel the open nature of our classroom environment because I have seen how other students in the class have evolved as educators. Our professors are real, real in the sense that they understand we have life going on around us. When I am not in class I get genuine concern from professors and other peers, and that is a welcome difference from other colleges where all I received was a zero in Canvas and no way to make up my grade. My classmates are willing to fill me in on work I missed, and professors are readily responsive to emails if there is any confusion on a topic or assignment. This is the environment I can see myself thriving in.
Teachers College of San Joaquin has allowed me to become hopeful of a career in education. Whereas before I just saw teaching as a way to make ends meet-the logical next step in where my education was headed-I now see the profession as a powerhouse. At TCSJ, professors want us to succeed, they understand that we will be teaching future generations of students and therefore give us real life examples of scenarios they've been in. How better to create powerful teachers, then to learn from amazing professors. I am very thankful for Teachers College of San Jaoquin, and I see myself learning and evolving here as a future teacher. And that makes me very hopeful.