From a young age, I have been driven to teach others. While I did not always know that I wanted to make it my occupation, I was heavily influenced by the positive role models I had within my life.

As the youngest of three by a margin of ten and eight years, I was always pushing past the limits of my age to seek out information and, in turn, share that with others. The internet provided a place for all of my questions to be answered. As early as second grade, I became designated as my teacher's technology assistant. I remember feeling such pride when I could share the knowledge I had accrued with someone else.

Throughout high school I took whatever electives were offered in technology from computer design to computer repair. In 10th grade, my dreams came to fruition when I saved up enough to build my own computer. When the time came to choose a major for college, I was torn between enrolling as an English education major or a computer engineering major. I chose computer engineering.

From the beginning, I knew that my heart was not in computer engineering. I had made friends in the major, loved the idea of creating solutions to problems, and was enamored with the principles of technology that I was learning. However, after completing three semesters, I came to the realization that I didn‘t love the prospect of a job in the computer engineering field. I thought about what made me happy and it became clear that helping people made me happy. I loved sharing information and facilitating learning. I made the decision to become an educator and, despite my initial hesitance, I immediately knew this is what I wanted to do.

Through my educator preparation program, I came into contact with the field of instructional technology. My affinity for the English language now had a contender for my interest. Unfortunately, my university did not have a program for educational technology, but they did have a “Teaching & Learning in the Digital Environment” course. The course, instructed by an ITC who worked at a local high school, was enthralling. I immediately knew that I had found a way to combine my passion for technology and teaching English. Throughout the course, I developed curriculum with the intent of enhancing lessons. It was through this course that I came to find the core tenet of education using technology was not merely for entertainment, but for the purpose of engagement through differentiation.

Although tragedy struck in 2020 with the pandemic, I knew that I was equipped with the proper tools to develop an all-virtual classroom when I was hired at Colgan High School for the 2020-21 schoolyear. My coursework and personal experience from finishing college virtually had prepared me with what worked (and what didn‘t work) pedagogically. However, my confidence did not just benefit me, but those within my department and within my CLTs who weren‘t as familiar with the tools at our disposal.

Over my two years at Colgan, I have had to instruct asynchronously, synchronously, in the hybrid model, and in the classroom. Every step presented a new challenge. With every new challenge, I loved finding new ways to reach all of my students. From my advanced classes, team-taught classes, and everything in between, I learned along with my students how to utilize my resources in tandem. Through professional development, especially the sessions held by William “Billy“ Watts at Colgan, I gained even more comfort with Canvas and all that it had to offer. Today, I feel that I am ready to fully realize the next step as a lifelong learner as an Instructional Technology Coach.