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Professional Experience
(July 2012)

     I am a teacher.

     I have always been a teacher.  In every position I have ever been in throughout my career I have either instructed a group of people or been a mentor to a peer. 
   
     I am a student.
   
     I question everything.  I want to know everything.  I am constantly researching something I do not know.  Or I am asking, "why?"  I want to know things, and the more I learn, the more I want to know.  I believe in self-discovery and the importance of asking questions and learning.
   
     That is who I am.  That is who I have always been.  That is who I will always be.
   
     When I complete my Ph.D., I will still be a student and a teacher.   
   
     However, it took me over ten years to figure that out about myself.  I struggled for the first half of my career in business jobs trying to find my niche.  Even though I wanted to be a teacher when I graduated from high school, it was only by accident that I became a teacher.  I have been told that I have a difficult job because I teach students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD).  To me, it is the easiest job I have ever had.  To me, it is not even a job.  Being a special education teacher gives me the opportunity to learn, grow, and teach with my students.  Every day I have the opportunity to teach and learn.
   
     I have ten years of experience working in the business industry managing million dollar contracts, starting a company from the ground level, managing a staff of twenty employees, and marketing several different types of companies.  I have over seven years of teaching experience in public and private school settings working with students with disabilities.  I have worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for two years to gain experience in research development, design, and analysis.  I have completed an internship with Johns Hopkins University to further my research experience.  Lastly, I have published in a peer-review journal and have presented at professional conferences.  Based on my past experiences, I am confident I can handle any type of job thrown my way.  I also believe I am resourceful enough to learn the skills I need to be successful in any position I do pick in the future.

     Over the past year I have continued to volunteer for special assignments at work to increase my leadership skills.  For example, I assisted the Special Education Department Chair at Freedom High School in completing Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for rising 9th grade students at the feeder middle school.  This resulted in me attending and guiding over 20 IEPs for the upcoming school year.  My goal in volunteering for this task was to gain more experience with developing IEPs for students with disabilities and to gain more leadership experience.  I have also continued to manage the emotional disability program at Freedom High School, which includes three teachers, two paraprofessionals, and twenty students with an emotional or behavioral disability.
   
     Even though I have been asked to apply to several leadership positions within Loudoun County, such as special education department chairperson and dean of special education, I have decided to pass on those positions at this time.  My current focus is completing and defending my dissertation.  Once my dissertation is complete, I will focus on finding a leadership position that allows me to continue to teach and learn in some capacity.