Disclaimer: I realize that this was supposed to be done last night, but it took me some time to get just the right words to say.
As I look back over the last eight weeks and over the course of this Master’s program all I can say is weeeee…what a ride. Looking back there are certain words that come to mind. These words are grateful, hope, thankful and privileged. All these words have shown themselves to be very important words to me throughout the Master’s program.
I am grateful that I have learned about the importance of passion. Passion is what drives me forward in order to make a difference in the Early Childhood field. It is this passion that I have that has since developed far deeper than it was when I started the program (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). It is this deep passion that I hope continues to grow as I progress in my professional life.
I am also deeply grateful for learning about what it means to be an effective advocate and policymaker. I also have learned how to be proactive in terms of being an advocate. Kieff (2009) explained that being proactive was to “recognize a problem or issue to study the issue from many different perspectives” (p.7). It is by being proactive I am able and was ale to look at the issue that I did my capstone project on from different contexts.
I am grateful that I also learned on a much deeper level about how to communicate. This knowledge will not only help me to be a better communicator but also taught me the skills necessary on how to be a good collaborator. In order to be effective in the EC field, it is deeply important to be effective as a communicator. This particular learning is important to me now, has been important in the past, but its importance has shown itself to be of vast importance to me in the future.
My greatest hope and my long-term goal is to continue to work for the best of the Early Childhood field, children and families all the while working to continue to learn as much as I can. By working on issues that are important I will be able to make my mark on the Early Childhood field. Another of my greatest hopes is to continue to be a life-long learner. This particular long-term goal ties into my previously mentioned long-term goal.
This is where I am thankful. I am thankful for the opportunity to have learned much from Dr. Johnna Darragh-Ernst. It is through her instruction and direction that I have learned much the last eight weeks. It is also through the other instructors that I have had that I have gained much of the deep knowledge I have acquired. Through their patience and direction, my thoughts have developed and as a result I have learned more about how to think more critically and also take the time to look at more parts of different issues and challenges than just the sides that I am used to looking at these from.
I am very privileged to have worked with the classmates that I have throughout this program. While my classmates have changed depending on the class, I am very privileged to have worked with the groups that I have. I have learned so much from each of you especially through this class. You have been a great source of help for me as we all struggled and worked tirelessly on our Capstone projects. I feel that we have grown into an effective Community of Practice and I would like very much to stay in contact with all of you as we work in the Early Childhood field as professionals. You have given me much encouragement even when I felt like what I was trying to say for certain assignments really didn’t make much sense to me.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” Prov. 22:6.
My contact information is:
Christina Feigner
email: silver.feigner@gmail.com
Phone: 509-386-8842
On Facebook look me me up by my name: Christina Silver Feigner
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