My Cultural Autobiography
Originally, I am from Portland. I was born here, and lived a few of my early years in the Southeast Lents neighborhood. Just before I entered my kindergarten year, my family moved to Colton, Oregon in order to afford a house that fit our growing family (as my little sister was on the way). I lived in this small town until I graduated from high school. To give you an idea of how small, I graduated with 65 people. Although the town I grew up in was small, my family is large. I grew up in a family of six children (myself, being the second youngest) and two parents. We continue to grow, as I have 11 nieces and nephews. It was very difficult for many years for my family to get by, but I absolutely love my large family. My mother is a strong woman, and I look up to her greatly as she “did it all” by working full-time, alongside my father, and still had time to take us all to our after school activities and make home cooked meals. A major value of respect, for myself and others, is what my mother instilled in me. This has motivated me to be the first in family to graduate from college and pursue my passion in working with communities.
From a young age I have volunteered in varied communities. I still remember the moments of being a volunteer in middle school at Blue Heaven Riding Academy in Estacada, Oregon. It was here that I worked with individuals with varied abilities explore, ride, and play games with horses as therapeutic riding. I started my college career at 18 years-old attending a local Community College. I then transferred to Portland State University my sophomore year. After my first year at PSU I took up the opportunity to live in Germany as an Au Pair. I did this for a year and valued my time there greatly. This experience was one of the markers for why I changed my major from International studies to Child and Family studies. I already knew I wanted pursue work in supporting communities, however, my work in my studies transformed into the human development and intersectionality. The early childhood education in Germany had a great affect on me. Although there are many different philosophies on approaching on education, I came to realize the importance of early education and intervention. After acquiring my Bachelors degree through the School of Social Work at Portland State University, I began my work in the Portland communities. After a few years of experience in the Portland Community as an Early Childhood Educator, I decided to pursue my Masters in Special Education. After finishing my Masters in Special Education at Portland State University through the Inclusive Elementary Educator Program (IEEP). In the IEEP I have studied curriculum areas, instructional strategies, and community building through the lense of equity. When Completing my Master’s research project, Where conducting a case study around AAC device users and peer communication. Prior to graduate school I completed my Bachelors of Arts in Child and Family Studies at Portland State University. My undergraduate work was focused on the subject of human development and working with diverse families, through the lense of social justice. Social justice is important to both my professional and personal life.
As an educator I work towards a professional and open communicative environment with my students, their families, and other faculty. I accomplish this by building meaningful relationships , collaborating with others, and finding clear avenues of communication that are respectful to all needs, while culturally responsive.