Farewell!

Dear Colleagues and Dr. Teri,

It is with such mixed emotions that I write my farewell message to you.  I am very excited about the opportunities that may come my way, due to meeting the huge goal of obtaining my master’s degree, but I am also a little anxious about leaving the comfort of such a supportive and dedicated group of early childhood professionals.  I have grown both personally and professionally as a result of my participation in this group and I am looking forward to the next phase of my life.

Personally, I have learned that many of my biases are the result my early childhood experiences.  Recognizing this fact has lead me to the realization that I must always be aware of these biases and constantly guard against letting them influence my interactions with others; especially the children and families that we serve.  Professionally, I have learned that the early childhood world is a huge arena.  Coming from such a small, rural town, I have not had many opportunities to experience the world other than outside my own backdoor.  Working with you through this program has opened my eyes to all of the resources, ideas, and relationships that are available if I only look a little harder to find them.  I believe that one of the most important things I have learned from this program is to always be open to new ideas and the experiences of other people.  Yes, I learned many new things from our assignments and applications, but most of the knowledge I gained was through my interactions with my colleagues and for that I am eternally grateful! 

I am a very goal-oriented person and I constantly write and revise goals for myself.  Obtaining my master’s degree is the biggest academic goal accomplished so far, but I am not about to set the torch down now!  My next goal is to become an instructor within the community college system in NC.  Although I have had the opportunity to teach a couple of classes over the last 2 semesters, I would like to obtain a regular position within this system and learn how to be an effective and compassionate instructor.  Another long term goal that I have is to open my own consulting business in the early childhood field.  This is much needed in my area and I would like to share my experiences with others to help them reach their goals and dreams.

Enough about me!  For all of you, I wish much joy and success in your future endeavors.  Success is sometimes easily obtained, but finding joy in our success is not always easy.  I hope that you remain dedicated to the early childhood profession and that you are recognized for your contributions and passion!  I have included some of my favorite quotes below and they summarize how I feel about early childhood and how I hope that I am remembered.  I have also included my contact information and I hope that you will stay in touch.

With much fondness,

Monette

moloves31@yahoo.com

 

 
 

Making the Connection!

This week’s blog assignment was so much fun!  I enjoyed learning about the different international organizations that serve children and families.  I have listed my three favorite ones below:

1.     Save The Children – this organization employs over 14, 000 people in 120 countries, including the United States.  Although I am an advocate for all children, I like to see programs that also care about children in my country.  I also like that 89% of funds raised go directly to services to save and improve the lives of children.  I thought all of the jobs sounded worthwhile but I would most like to work with the education and child development department that is based out of Westport, Connecticut.  In order to apply for any job with Save The Children you have to create an account and upload your resume.  I tried to search US Jobs, but the site kept showing an error.  I did look at the international jobs available but none of them were directly related to early childhood so they did not seem to fit my skill set. 

2.     FHI 360- this organization sounds like a perfect fit for me!  They are committed to improving the lives of all people and they focus on many areas, including education.  I like that they understand that to truly make a difference they have to look at the whole picture, hence the 360 connection.  One job that sounded very interesting to me was Director of Programs (US Based).  I believe that I have many of the qualities needed for this position.  With my combined experience in Head Start, as well as for-profit child care centers, I understand budgetary constraints as well as how to design and implement effective programs, work well with many types of people, and I possess important managerial skills to aid in developing teams.  I do, however, believe that this would be a very challenging position and that it would take many years to learn how to be effective within this position. 

3.     UNICEF- this is still one of my favorite organizations.  Although I previously wrote about working with UNICEF in the US branch, I would also consider working abroad.  Their mission to build a world that protects the rights of every child is awesome!  I would love to be part of an organization that strives to meet the needs of every child so that they can have happy and healthy lives.  One of the jobs that interests me is that of Education Specialist in Senegal.  This position if responsible for planning and implementing education programs that identify and address gender inequalities in education.  It requires an advanced degree in education or social sciences, five year of experience in a relevant position, knowledge of gender disparities, and fluency in English and an additional UN language.  Although this job interests me, I am not qualified.  I believe that a position of this caliber would be worth of working towards but I am not sure that it is something I would pursue at this time in my life. 

Thanks for reading and please let me know of other international opportunities that may be available!